The Red Fist
by mknote
Summary: When Yuffie Kisaragi goes missing in the North, AVALANCHE team up with unlikely allies to search for her. What they discover will affect one of them deeply. The second story in Frank Verderosa's FFVII Internet Series.
1. Stop Theif!

_Publisher's Disclaimer: Besides this and the note at the end of the last chapter, I, mknote, did not write a single word of this story. It was entirely written by Frank Verderosa. I hope you enjoy The Red Fist._

CHAPTER I

STOP THEIF!

The light in the corridor was dim. There were torches placed periodically along the walls, but they were few and far between. They cast pale shadows on the rough stone walls that rose up into the darkness of the fortress, their light diminished by the immensity of the stucture around them.

Two men walked slowly down the corridor. They were dressed all in black except for a red insignia on the left breast of their shirts. They talked in hushed tones as they passed down the hallway, almost as if they were intimidated by the cold walls that surrounded them.

They paused for a moment in the middle of the corrider as one of them lit a cigarette. As they moved on a little bit of rock dust drifted to the ground behind them.

Clinging just below the ceiling on the wall directly above where the two men had been standing the young ninja breathed a sigh of relief as the two men disappeared down the hallway. Much as she would have been amused to see the look on their faces if she had dropped on top of them, it was unlikely she could have taken them both out before they raised an alarm.

She slid silently down the wall. She stopped when she reached the bottem and looked around quickly, more out of habit than caution. She knew the next patrol would not come through for another ten minutes.

Smiling to herself, she quickly passed down the corrider. So far, things had been absurdly easy. At the end of the corridor she turned left and entered a narrow room, dimly lit like everywhere else. On the floor was a brightly painted murel of a large red dragon.

She walked slowly across the room, being careful not to step on any portion of the floor that was painted red. On the other side was a locked metal door. She crouched down beside it for a few minutes.

There was a soft click, and then the young ninja stood up and swung the door open. With one more glance around she stepped inside.

The room was circular, and even darker than the others. A flickering glow dimly lit the room, but it was not the glow of torchlight. In the center of the room stood a narrow pedistal. On top of it was placed what looked like a materia orb.

The ninja could not help but stare in wonder at it for a moment. She had never seen anything like it. It was huge, much larger than any materia she had seen before, almost the size of an ostrich egg. But the thing that really captivated her was the color. Normal materia glowed faintly with a certain color depending on what type of materia it was, but this sparkled with multicolored lights. Red, blue, green and yellow all flashed and flickered within it.

She slowly walked over to it, unable to turn her gaze away. The colors whirled around inside it. One growing brighter than the rest, then fading away, to be replaced by another color. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"I've been expecting you."

She jerked her head up to see a figure standing in the darkness nearby. Instinctively she flung her shuriken at point blank range.

Almost too fast to see the man stepped to the side, then almost casually reached out his hand, and suddenly he was holding her shuriken.

Her eyes widened in spite of herself and she took a step back.

"I'm afraid you'll have to do a little better than that," he said calmly. He tossed her shuriken aside and stepped toward her. He was an older man, with white hair and a short beard, and he wore the same black uniform she had seen on the other men in the corrider. On the left breast was the insignia of a red fist.

The young ninja lauched a kick at the man's knee, but faster than she could follow he reached down and intercepted her leg. He twisted it round and she felt searing pain run up her leg. With a cry she fell to the floor.

The man let go of her leg and stepped up beside her. She turned to look at him just in time to see him stoop down and bring his fist forward. Then all was blackness...


	2. Trouble in Wutai

CHAPTER II

TROUBLE IN WUTAI

The dark object came hurtling directly at Cloud's head. With cat like reflexes he dodged aside. His sword flashed through the air, and the dark object was split in two. He held his sword balanced lightly in front of him as twice more a dark object flew at him, and each time he neatly devided it in half.

"I told you you couldn't hit me," he said with a smile.

Tifa pulled two more apples off the tree. In quick succession she threw them both at him as hard as she could, one high and one low, and almost faster than could be followed he swung again and neatly cleaved each one in two.

"Give up?" he said smugly.

They stood about fifteen feet apart on a tree shaded lawn in back of Tifa's bar.

"What are you kidding?" she questioned. "I haven't even started yet."

She reached up to pluck another apple from the tree just as the back door of the bar opened. Cloud turned and saw a young women with chestnut brown hair and dark gren eyes step out onto the lawn, a warm smile on her face.

"Aeris," he said, smiling back at her. "You're back."

The apple whistled through the air and caught him solidly on the side of the head.

"Owww!" he exclaimed. He looked over at Tifa, who stood with her hands over her mouth, a shocked look on her face.

"Oops," she said, and quickly ran over to him.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Both girls tried to look at him with a serious expression, attempted to suppress their laughter, and failed miserably.

"Thanks for the concern," he said, rubbing his head.

"I'm sorry," Tifa said when she had finished giggling. "But I told you I'd get you!"

Cloud resisted the urge to argue that he had been distracted, knowing that it would just sound like whining. He turned to Aeris.

"So what brings you back so soon?" he asked. "I thought you would be in Cosmo Canyon for at least another week."

After her resurrection, they had returned to Kalm, and Aeris had wished at the time for nothing more than to return to the simple life of a flower girl she had led before their adventures started. But after a while she had come to realize that after all that had happened to her she could never again go back to that life. Things around her, and especially she herself, had changed too much. She found herself thinking more and more about her real mother, and the heritage she had as the last of the Ancients, the last of her race. And quite suddenly she felt a desire to know more about them. She had so many unaswered questions, and the desire to find answers grew day by day. She buried herself in books and talked to everyone in Kalm who might have had knowledge of her ancestors, but the store of knowledge in Kalm was limited, and she did not find out nearly enough to satisfy her. So two weeks ago she had set off for Cosmo Canyon, hoping to find there what she was looking for.

Aeris nodded, her face turning serious.

"I was," she said, "but I received a disturbing message from Godo. Yuffie is missing."

"What?" Tifa exclaimed.

"Something strange is happening in Wutai," she continued. "They're having some kind of problem with their materia. Godo sent Yuffie to investigate, and she disappeared. Now he's worried sick."

"How long ago was this?" Cloud asked.

"He last heard from her a week ago," Aeris replied. "Actually, he heard from Staniv, who he sent along with her to keep an eye on her. I guess he figured Yuffie wasn't reliable enough to keep in touch herself. Staniv was supposed to report in every few days."

"Where were they when he last heard from them?" Tifa asked.

"I don't know," Aeris replied. "He didn't say. He just asked to get you and come to Wutai as quickly as possible. He made it seem like something big was going on, something much more than just the disappearence of his daughter."

"What did Red make of it?" Tifa asked.

"Well, he was concerned of course, but we didn't have any details. Still, he thought it serious enough to head on to Wutai ahead of us while I came back here to get you."

Cloud pondered this for a moment.

"I wonder what could be going on? When did you get the message?"

"This morning," Aeris said.

"This morning?" Cloud repeated. "You were in Cosmo Canyon this morning? How did you get here so fast?"

Aeris smiled.

"I forgot to mention, I got the message from Shake. Godo sent him in a helicopter. He's waiting for us right now. If we hurry, we can be in Wutai before nightfall."

* * *

The sun had sunk below the horizen, and one or two of the brightest stars could just be made out in the darkening sky above Rocket Town. Cid sat on the cool grass beneath the wing of the Tiny Bronco looking up at them. A cigarette hung from his lip, and the stubbed out butts of half a dozen others lay in the grass around him.

His gaze dropped and he shook his head. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and crushed it out also. He got up slowly and turned toward the house. He looked up to see a figure standing not more than five feet in front of him.

Startled, he stepped back, and banged his head sharply against the wing of his plane.

"Damn!" he exclaimed.

The dark figure stepped forward, into the light that streamed out of the window of the house beside them, and Cid immediately recognized him.

"Vincent," he said. "Must you sneak around like that all the time? Why can't you stumble around like a normal person. You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Vincent came up beside him. With his dark cloak and shrouded features, Vincent could put a scare in someone even in broad daylight. In the dark his appearence was even more frightening. But Cid knew he had nothing to fear. In spite of his appearence, Vincent was a loyal ally to his friends.

"I apologize," Vincent said. "It's just that you looked so contemplative, I didn't want to disturb you."

"Contemplative?" Cid repeated. "I was just looking at the freaking stars."

"Of course," Vincent replied with a shrug.

Cid waved for Vincent to follow him and stepped into the house. He led them into the living room and motioned for Vincent to sit down while he went into the kitchen. He came back in a moment with two drinks.

"So what brings you to Rocket Town?" he asked, sitting down beside Vincent and handing him one of the drinks.

"A chance meeting," Vincent replied. "I was on my way to Gongaga when I happened to run into Nanaki just west of Cosmo Canyon. Apparently Yuffie has gotten into some kind of trouble."

"That isn't much of a surprise," Cid responded.

"But there is more to it than that," Vincent continued. "Godo wanted us all to come to Wutai as quickly as possible. I told Nanaki I would stop to get you along the way. If you are willing to come, that is."

"Why the hell wouldn't I be?" Cid questioned.

"Well, I know you have a lot to do around here," Vincent replied quickly, almost apoligetically. "What with you're building a new rocket and all."

Cid waved his hand dismissively.

"The rocket is fine. It's moving along nicely. It's practically building itself, in fact."

He got up.

"No, they don't need me. Actually, it'll be good for me to get out of this dive for a little while. Just let me get a few things together and we can be on our way."

He walked off into another room. Vincent was a little surprised. He knew Cid had always been fond of Rocket Town, and his rocket was more dear to him than life. When he had come into town looking for Cid the first place he had gone was to the rocket site, and he had been surprised to find that Cid was not there. He was such a perfectionist (at least, when it came to his vehicles) that he usually oversaw every detail of their construction. This was not the Cid he knew.

Vincent stood up and looked around.

"Where's Shera?" he asked. Perhaps she could shed some light on Cid's odd behavior.

There was no response for a moment.

"Who cares," he heard Cid reply gruffly from the other room.

Vincent's eyebrows went up. He walked into the bedroom. Cid was pulling some clothes out of a dresser and stuffing them into a backpack.

"What happened?" Vincent questioned.

Cid continued rummaging through his dresser for a moment. He gave Vincent a look like he did not want to talk about it, but then he sat down on the bed and stared at the wall. He lit up a cigarette but did not speak for some time.

"She took off on me," he said finally. "About a week ago."

Vincent just looked at him thoughtfully.

"She's living with her sister on the other side of town," Cid continued. "She was nothing but a pain in the ass anyway. I'm glad to get rid of her."

Vincent still did not speak, but looked at Cid skeptically. Cid returned his gaze for a moment, but then turned away.

"All right!" he said sullenly. "All right, I admit it. I...I miss her. There, I said it. Does that make you happy?"

Vincent shook his head.

"Have you told her that?" he asked pointedly.

Cid took a long drag on his cigarette.

"Hell no," he replied.

Cid looked at Vincent again, but his friend only stared at him with those piercing eyes. Somehow that made Cid more uncomfortable than anything Vincent could have said.

Cid stood up and grabbed his backpack.

"Stop looking at me like that," he exclaimed. "I'll tell her. Eventually. Now let's get going. Whatever is going on in Wutai is probably more important than anything that's going on here."

"I'm not so sure," Vincent said.

"Don't tell me how to run my life, Goddammit!" Cid said angrily. "I'll staighten everything out with Shera when we get back, so just drop it, okay?"

Vincent shrugged, but Cid still couldn't bring himself to look his friend in the face.

"Let's get going," he said quickly, walking past Vincent. "C'mon, I've got something to show you. The rocket isn't the only thing I've been working on lately. I've got a new toy you might want to take a look at."

He walked out the door without looking back. Vincent shook his head again and followed.


	3. Men and a Woman in Blue

CHAPTER III

MEN (and a WOMAN) IN BLUE

The wind swirled around Tifa as she stepped out of the helicopter, followed closely by Cloud and Aeris. They saw Red sitting a short distance away.

"Hi, Red," Tifa said, running over to the red beast.

"It's good to see you all again," Red replied. "Come on, Godo is waiting for you."

He led them quickly through the streets of Wutai until they came to Godo's residence. Godo was waiting inside.

"You're here," he said, seeminingly quite pleased to see them. "Come, sit down. I know you must be tired from your trip and probably would like to get some rest, but what I have to tell you is very urgent."

"We're not tired," Cloud said quickly.

They sat down while Godo stood in front of them. His face was drawn and he looked worn. Aeris thought she had never seen him so obviously worried.

"The trouble started about a month and a half ago," he said. He suddenly produced a small orb and walked over to let them look at it.

Cloud examined it closely. It was a materia orb, all right, but something was wrong. All materia glowed faintly with Mako energy, but this orb appeared dead. It was a dull grey with no hint of color or life.

"What happened to it?" Cloud asked, looking up at Godo.

"We don't know," Godo replied. "But I can tell you that all the materia in Wutai is like this. Something is sucking all the energy out of our materia, and it's not just happening in Wutai. It happened at Icicle Inn about two weeks before it hit here. In fact, all the northern regions seem to have been affected, and it's spreading."

Tifa looked at him curiously.

"Like some kind of disease?" she suggested.

"Possibly," Godo replied. "We really don't know. But I don't think so. I suspect a single entity is behind this. I seems that someone, or something, is gathering all the Mako energy on the planet, or at least a good portion of it. To what purpose, I have no clue, but I think we urgently need to find out."

Cloud nodded in agreement. Whatever was causing this, he had a distinct feeling that no good would come of it.

"Aeris," he said, turning toward her. "Have you ever heard of anything like this?"

"I'm not sure," Aeris replied slowly. "I seem to remember a story about some kind of materia that could draw it's power from all other materia. But I think it was some kind of legend, or children's story. I don't think it was real. It was a long time ago, and I'm not really sure..."

She stood in thought as her voice faded into silence.

"The only thing that seems certain is that the source of the drain, whatever it is, is somewhere in the north," Godo said. "So that's where I sent Yuffie, but now she has disappeared."

"Where was she when you last heard from her?" Cloud asked.

"At Icicle Inn," Godo replied. "They were exploring some area north of there, but I don't know the exact location. That's another reason why I think this materia drain is being caused by some directed intelligence, and not just some strange natural phenomena. I believe she must have found out something, or run afoul of whoever, or whatever, is causing this. I fear she could be in serious trouble."

"Then the sooner we're on our way, the better," Cloud stated.

"I agree," Godo replied. "But even with my daughters life at stake I know it would be foolish of you to rush off unprepared. The others should be arriving some time tomorrow, if all goes well. You can safely wait at least until then, I should think."

"You've been in touch with everyone else?" Tifa asked.

Godo nodded.

"Yes. Red has already spoken with Vincent, who is on his way to get Cid. The others are gathering at the Gold Saucer. I can send Shake to pick them up tomorrow. Until then, rest and renew yourselves. You have the hospitality of my house, and don't hesitate to ask if you should need anything. I will have some food prepared, and then I suggest you get some rest. You may have a long and hard road in front of you."

* * *

The first thing she noticed was the smell of smoke in the air. She was not concerned. The smell of burning leaves, or of a late autumn cookout, was not uncommon this time of year. But as she neared Nibelheim and the smoke began to swirl thickly about her, she realized that something was very wrong.

She had been up in the hills around Nibelheim most of the day, exploring new trails in the mountains. If she was going to be a guide she needed to know the area like the back of her hand. She was tired, but that didn't stop her from breaking into a run when she saw the flickering of flames through the trees ahead of her.

She came out of the trees and stopped in shock. Nibelheim was in flames. The whole town seemed to be caught in a huge inferno. She could see figures running through the fire, and she heard the screams of the dying.

"Pappa..." she mouthed, though no words came out. The fear choked off her voice, and for a moment it was almost overpowering. But in spite of it she found herself rushing recklessly toward the inferno, the fear overcome by a more pressing need. What had become of her father?

She turned the corner that led onto the main street, coughing as the smoke enveloped her. Now the flames were all around her and if she had stopped to notice she would have felt the intense heat. She did stop, but not because of the heat. Across the road stood her home, or what was left of it, engulfed in flames.

Tifa stared helplessly, tears streaming down her cheeks. Then she heard cries off to her left. She turned. The flames rose high overhead, but through them she could make out a dark figure striding slowly down the street, his deliberate pace in sharp contrast to all the other paniked individuals she had seen. As two people ran by him, a sword flashed in the flickering light and they fell to the ground and lay still.

Suddenly her fear was gone, overwhelmed by anger that welled up inside her. Sephiroth! She knew somehow that he was responsible for all this. With sudden determination she started toward him, but a wall of flame rose up between them and forced her back. She shouted his name, but he did not hear over the roar of the flames. Now he was walking away from her, toward the old Shinra Mansion.

She ran down the street until at the end of the block she found a way past the flames. Quickly she made her way back, but when she got to the mansion Sephiroth was gone. She looked around, the mansion was in flames along with the rest of the town. He had not gone in there. The only other way he could have gone was down the trail to Mt. Nibel, toward the Mako reactor. She ran down the trail.

The flames faded away behind her, but the fire still burning in her heart raged on. She reached the Mako reactor just in time to see Sephiroth cutting down yet another person standing in front of it. She called his name again, and this time he hesitated for a moment and seemed to glance in her direction, but then he turned and entered the reactor.

She ran on. The man Sephiroth had struck was lying by the reactor entrance. As she ran past him he moaned softly and turned his face into the light.

Tifa stopped as if she had run into a wall. She knelt down and lifted her father's head. He opened his eyes and looked at her, and the trace of a smile formed on his lips at the sight of her. His mouth moved as he tried to speak, but no words came out. Then his head sank back in her arms.

"Pappa," she said softly as the tears ran down her soot stained face. For a moment more she cradled her father's lifeless figure in her arms, head bowed. Then she felt the anger washing over her once again. She placed her father's head carefully back down on the cold earth. Then she lifted up her fists to the sky.

"Sephiroth, SOLDIER, Mako reactors, Shinra, everything. I hate them all!"

She turned to face the entrance to the reactor. A sword gleamed on the ground nearby. She picked it up, and, abandoning all caution, ran inside.

Sephiroth stood at the top of a long stairway, facing away from her. She ran blindly up the steps, sword held high, with no thought of caution or stealth. Her rage consumed her, and her one thought was to stirke out at the person that had destroyed everything she held dear.

Sephiroth turned as she came clattering up the steps. He easily sidestepped her clumsy swing. He reached out and grabbed her arm with a vice like grip, twisting it and slipping the sword out of her hands. He pushed her away and swung the sword up. She raised her hands in a useless attempt to fend off the blow, and then the sword came down savagely.

Tifa woke up and stared at the ceiling above her for a few seconds, a shiver running down her back. It seemed like a lifetime had passed since that night in Nibelheim, yet she still remembered it as if it were yesterday.

She glanced over at the window to see the early morning light streaming in. There was a sound coming from outside. A dull roar, and that must have been what woke her. Curious, she got up out of bed and went over to the window. The sound grew as she did, and now it was almost uncomfortably loud. As she walked she felt the house vibrating slightly. She looked out the window to see some sort of large aircraft descending above the houses not far away.

She walked over to the dresser and slipped off her nightgown. She paused for a moment to look in the mirror above the dresser. Slowly her hand traced the scar that ran from her left shoulder to just below her right breast. Most of the scars Sephiroth had left behind were not so obvious.

Hastily she threw on her clothes and ran out to see what was going on.

* * *

"So what do you think of the Slipstream?" Cid asked.

The others were gathered around him in a large open field at the edge of Wutai. A sleek black jet rested in the field in front of them.

"It's very...loud," Aeris said. Even in idle, she could barely be heard above the rumble of the engines.

"Very impressive," Cloud said, and he meant it. He didn't share Cid's love of all things mechanical, but he had to admit the jet was a good looking piece of equipment. "You built this while working on the rocket too? Where do you find the time?"

"I like to keep busy," Cid said curtly.

"Very nice," Red commented, "but I'm surprised you didn't use the parts for your rocket."

"Believe me, it was tempting," Cid replied wryly. "But I was commisioned to build it by the Governor at Fort Condor. They paid for all the parts and equipment."

"So it's not really yours," Tifa said.

"Oh, it's mine all right," Cid replied quickly. "In return for building it and giving them the plans I got to keep the prototype. I did consider taking it apart to use on the rocket, but when it came down to it I just couldn't. I guess I just miss the my old airship more than I thought."

"I was kind of suprised when you told us you had dismantled the Highwind," Cloud agreed.

Cid shrugged.

"It appears you no longer need the use of the helicopter," Godo observed, speaking for the first time.

"No," Cloud agreed. "I've got a feeling we'll get where we are going a lot faster in this thing."

He turned to Cid.

"We've got to pick up the others in the Gold Saucer. So how would you like to take us for a little ride."

"Just hop right in," Cid replied with a grin.

In took them a few minutes to get their things together, but in a short time they were in the air, winging their way toward the Gold Saucer. Cid couldn't help showing off a little by putting the plane through some high speed turns and rolls. The others endured it with varying degrees of enthusiasim. Tifa sat clutching the arms of her chair with white knuckles as they flew upside down just above the treetops, but she gritted her teeth and said nothing. Cloud, on the other hand, seemed to be having a great time, and kept encouraging Cid to do more wild manuevers. Tifa was sorely tempted to tell him to shut up, but held her tongue. Red was looking out the windows nervously, his tail twitching furiously. Vincent seemed to be the only one completely undisturbed. Aeris looked calm as well, but then she looked at Cid.

"Can this thing fly in a straight line?" she asked.

Cid looked back at them and grinned.

"Yeah, but what fun would that be?" he replied.

In spite of his response he righted the plane and leveled off, although it seemed to Tifa they were still dangerously low. She tried to relax the rest of the way, but she did not feel really comfortable until they had finally landed and she stepped off the plane at the Gold Saucer.

"So where are we supposed to meet the others?" Aeris asked.

"In the lobby of the Ghost Hotel," Cloud replied. "C'mon."

He led them swiftly through the entrance. Even though Tifa had been here many times, she was still facinated by the glitter and carnival atmostphere of the huge amusement park.

They reached the hotel and entered the lobby. They immediately spotted Barret pacing back and forth in front of the reception desk. Cait sat in a chair nearby, a deck of cards laid out on a small coffee table in front of him.

"Barret," Cloud called.

Both Barret at Cait looked up at his call. Cait gathered his cards and they both walked over.

"It's about time you guys got here," Barret said with a smile. "I was starting to wear a hole in the carpet.

He pulled both Tifa and Aeris to him and crushed them in a bear hug.

"How are my two favorite ladies?"

"We were fine until now," Tifa gasped.

"How's Marlene?" Aeris questioned when he relented and let them go.

"Good," Barret replied. "She had her first day of school last week. Can you believe it?"

"How did she take it?" Aeris asked.

"She did fine," Barret replied. "I was the one who was a mess. She's growin up so fast! I've finally gotten to see a little more of her and I just want to spend every minute..."

He stopped, looking at something behind them. The others turned to see three people standing in the lobby entrance. The Turks!

"How touching," Reno said with a mocking look on his face.

Cloud's hand immediately went to his sword.

"What are you three doing here?" he questioned sharply.

"Relax," Reno replied causally. "We're not here to fight. In fact, we're here to help. Godo hired us to give you a hand finding Yuffie."

Everyone except Rude looked at him in surprise.

"What?" Barret exclaimed angrily.

"We're working with them?" Elena said, the shock plain on her face.

"No way," Tifa found herself saying.

"We don't need your help," Cid said grimly.

"Apparently Godo disagrees," Reno replied, unfazed. "I guess he's so concerned about his daughter that he thought you could use all the help he could get you. I don't really know, and to tell you the truth I don't really care. I'm not too pleased with the situation myself, but Godo's gil is just as good as anyone else's, and he's paying us a lot of it."

"You didn't tell us we'd be working with them," Elena cut in angrily, obviously as much in the dark as Cloud and his friends had been. "There's no way I'm going to do it!"

Reno looked at her dryly.

"Elena, snap out of it," he said rather harshly. "You're a Turk, don't forget that. It's unproffesional to let your emotions interfere with a job. I'm suprised at you."

Elena gave Reno a look of pure hatred. She opened her mouth as if to protest again, but then shut it and turned away angrily.

"Well, I'm sure as hell not working with them!" Barret spit out angrily. "Not after what they did to Sector 7. Not after they murdered Jessie, Biggs and Wedge!"

Elena turned back toward them.

"And how many people do you think died when you blew up the reactors in Sectors one and five?" she questioned caustically. "I knew a lot of those people. Some of them were close friends."

Barret glared at her, but said nothing.

"All right, everyone just calm down," Cloud said. He was surprised as everyone else with this turn of events. Could this be some kind of trick? If so, he could not see the purpose behind it. It would be easy enough to contact Godo and verify Reno's claim. It was kind of shocking to think that Godo would hire the Turks, but who knows what a man would do when his only daughter was missing? If Godo felt desperate enough, he might just do it.

"We all did a lot of things we regret back in Midgar," he said. "We all lost people who we were close to. But that was war, and in war you often do things that you may not be so proud of later on. But the important thing to remember is that it's over now. There is no more Shinra, there is no more reason to continue that paritcular fight. We have a new mission now, to find out what is happening to the materia and to find Yuffie, and much as it may displease me to work with the Turks, I'm willing to do it if Godo thinks it's the best way to find his daughter."

He looked at each of the others in turn, his gaze lingering on Barret, who grumbled but said nothing. Tifa could sympathize. Of everyone here, she and Barret had been closest to those who had died when Sector 7 was destroyed. It was a bitter pill to swallow to have to work with the one who had caused it now, but if Cloud thought it best, she wasn't about to protest.

"So it's agreed," Aeris stated, looking at the Turks, "We all work together?"

Rude nodded. Reno looked at Elena, who glared back at him but gave a curt nod.

Reno looked at Cloud.

"All right then," Cloud said. "Now that that's settled. Godo said that Icicle Inn was the last place Yuffie contacted him from, so I guess it would be best to start our search there. C'mon, let's head back to the Slipstream."

He turned and walked out, the others falling in line behind. As he walked Red came up beside him.

"So what do you make of this, Red," Cloud asked softly. "Do you think Godo has lost faith in us?"

Red shrugged.

"I don't think so," he replied. "I think like most fathers his daughter means everything to him, and he'll do anything he can to get her back. I guess he figures the more people he has looking, the more likely it is someone will find her."

"But why pick the Turks, of all people?"

"Their morals may be in question," Red replied, "but they do seem to have a certain code, and a reputation to uphold. As long as he pays them, I think they will do everything in their power to get the job done. Their questionable morals may even come in handy in certain circumstances. They may be able to obtain information that we could not."

Cloud shook his head. What a strange twist of events, he thought. Whatever else might happen, he didn't think he would get a bigger suprise than to find out that they would be working side by side with the Turks! Little did he know how wrong he was.


	4. One Big Happy Family

CHAPTER IV

ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY

They reached Icicle Inn early that evening. After they had settled in they all gathered around the fireplace in the lobby to dicuss their strategy for the next morning's search.

"Godo told me that Yuffie was searching in the great glacier area when she disappeared," Cloud said. "But he doesn't know exactly where she was. It's a big area to search, so we'll have to split up into teams. Reno, you take Rude and Elena and search the western portion of the glacier. Barret, you take Tifa and Red and search the eastern. I'll take Aeris and Cait and search the central area."

Reno looked at him thoughtfully but said nothing. Elena and Tifa both seemed to want to say something, but neither one spoke. Cid looked at him.

"What about Vincent and I?" he asked.

"You take the Slipstream and do an airial reconnaissance. You may see something from the air that we would miss on the ground."

Cid nodded.

"We'll all work our way north through the glacier and meet at Mr. Holozoff's cabin when we've completed our search. If we don't find anything, we'll tackle the Gaea cliffs the next day. Any questions?"

He looked at each of them in turn, but no one spoke.

"All right," he said. "Then I suggest we all relax for a while. Just remember that we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Make sure you get plenty of rest."

"Thanks, Dad," Elena couldn't help but say.

Cloud looked at her for a moment, but then smiled.

"Okay, I guess I kind of deserved that."

The party split up. The Turks walked over to the bar and sat down. Reno ordered them all drinks. Elena sat beside him, glaring at him angrily.

"It's bad enough we have to work with them," she spit out, "but do we have to take orders from Cloud as well. Who's the boss here, anyway?"

Reno sighed and turned to look at her.

"We are not taking orders from Cloud," he said patiently. "But it would be foolish to quarrel over every move we make. That would just slow us down, and the sooner we finish this mission the sooner we get paid and get rid of them. Besides, what he said made sense."

The waiter came over and placed their drinks in front of them. Elena picked hers up and quickly drained it. She banged it back down on the counter and glared at Reno.

"I know a lot of unpleasent things about you," she said accusingly, "but I never realized before that you were such a wuss!"

She got up and stalked away.

Reno raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Rude, who seemed completely undisturbed by the entire conversation.

"She seems a bit upset," he observed.

"Umm."

Reno looked at Rude for a moment.

"You didn't know we were going to be working with Cloud," he said finally. "How come you didn't look surprised when we met them?"

Rude took a leisurly swig from his glass, then set it down.

"Nothing surprises me," he answered with a shrug.

* * *

Elena headed for an empty table in a dark corner of the bar as far away from the others as she could find and sat down.

Damn Reno, she thought. Why did he always have to be so smug? He should have warned them ahead of time who they would be working with. They were Turks, weren't they supposed to stick together?

She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

The worst part of it was, he was right, she was letting her emotions get in the way. But she couldn't help it. The pay was good, yes, but it wasn't everything. Reno had known people who died in the reactor blasts too, didn't he feel anything for them? She didn't think she could ever be that cold blooded.

"Looks like you're having a difficult time with this."

She jumped up and turned to see a dark figure sitting at a table right beside her's.

Anger blazed in her eyes, and for a moment Vincent thought she was going to shout at him, but then it passed, and she sat back down again slowly.

"Please don't scare me like that," she said wearily. She really didn't feel like taking to anyone right now, but of all the people in Cloud's party, Vincent was the one she disliked the least. After all, he hadn't had anything to do with blowing up the reactors in Midgar, and he had once been a Turk.

"Sorry," he said. "I do seem to have that effect on people."

Elena looked over to where Reno and Rude were sitting at the bar, but they had their backs to her now.

"Sometimes it's hard being a Turk," she said. "I never realized how difficult it would be."

"Nothing of value is ever obtained easily," Vincent replied.

"Oh, please," she responded, shaking her head. "The last thing I need to hear is some philisophical nonsense."

She looked at him with a tinge of anger, but he returned her look unflinchingly with his piercing gaze. She quickly turned away.

"Very well, I'll be blunt," he said. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself. So you lost a few friends in a reactor explosion, you think that gives you a monopoly on pain and suffering? You don't know the half of it. I've seen things happen to people I loved that would make your hair stand on end. In fact I'd say it's a safe bet to say that everyone in our entire party has suffered more than you have, and none of them are whining about it. You want me to be straightforward with you, well than here it is in a nutshell. Life sucks. Get used to it."

Elena's mouth fell open, and for a long time she just stared at him. Then she closed her mouth and a small smile appeared on her lips. Finally, someone who spoke his mind and didn't sugarcoat it.

"Much as I hate to quote Cloud," she said, "but I guess I deserved that."

She stood up.

"What are you drinking?" she asked. "In the spirit of newfound cooperation between our two parties, it's on me."

* * *

Barret sat at the far end of the bar, as far from Reno and Rude as he could get, and stared gloomily at the wall while cradling his drink in his hands. He couldn't believe they were actually cooperating with the Turks.

He felt someone come up beside him and turned to see Tifa slide into the barstood next to him. The bartender came over and looked at her.

"Whatever he's having," she said despondantly, indicating Barret's drink.

He looked at her, and from the look on her face it was obvious she was no more happy with the situation than he.

The bartender returned with her drink. She gulped down half of it and then put it down, staring gloomily in the direction of Reno and Rude.

But she was looking past Reno and Rude. Cloud, Aeris and Red were sitting together near the fireplace, talking quietly. She couldn't help but notice how close together Cloud and Aeris were sitting.

She took another gulp from her drink.

I'm being a jerk, she thought. It was foolish to be jealous, but she just couldn't help it. She loved Aeris like a sister, and was truely happy to have her back, but it was making things difficult.

"I don't see how they expect us to get along with the Turks," Barret grumbled beside her.

"Umm," she said distractedly. She knew Cloud cared for Aeris, but she didn't really know whether he looked on her as just a friend or something more. She certainly would never have asked Cloud so blunt a question, and she hadn't asked Aeris.

She shook her head. The real reason why she hadn't asked Aeris is that she was afraid of what Aeris might answer. They hadn't seemed that close since Aeris resurrection, but maybe she had just missed it. Why had he chosen her to go with him on the search tomorrow?

"In spite of what Cloud might think," Barret continued. "I don't trust them. I'm sure they'd turn on us and Godo in a minute if they saw any profit in it. How do we know what they would do if someone else offered them more gil than Godo is paying them?"

Tifa turned to look at Barret and sighed.

"Barret, I love you and all, but sometimes the company of someone is all the comfort a person needs. So do me a favor and just shut up!"

* * *

"I never thought we'd end up working with the Turks," Cloud said.

Red, who was lying on the floor in front of the fire, turned his head to look at him.

"I've a feeling that is going to be the main topic of conversation for some time to come," he said.

Cloud turned to look at Aeris. Of all of them, she seemed the least disturbed about the situation.

"They've been hounding you for most of your life, Aeris," he said. "It doesn't bother you?"

She shook her head.

"It's like you said earlier," she replied. "That was a long time ago and things have changed. There is no more Shinra. The Turks don't have any reason to be after me any more."

Cloud shrugged. Not only had the Turks been persecuting her, they also had a hand in the death of both of her parents. Aeris had as much reason, if not more, than any of them to hate the Turks.

"You're more forgiving than I," he said softly. He wasn't about to forget their battles with the Turks, but he was willing to work with them if necessary.

"I think forgiveness would be too much to ask from any of us," Red stated. "I think what we should be shooting for here is tolerance, and even that may be difficult for some of us," he continued, glancing over at the bar. "It won't do any of us, or the mission, any good if we start fighting among ourselves. You don't think Barret will do anything foolish, do you?"

Cloud followed Red's gaze. He could see Barret and Tifa at the bar, both silently looking at their glasses.

"No," he replied. "Barret can be a hot head, but he won't jeopordize the mission. Besides, Tifa knows how to keep him in line."

He looked over at Aeris once again and saw that she was staring off into space with a far away look in her eye.

"Aeris?"

She did not answer. Her mouth moved as if she were talking to someone, but no words came out. He realized she was communing with the planet, and he sat back and left her alone. He often had to remind himself that Aeris was no ordinary girl, but the last of an ancient race. Even after all this time he still couldn't get used to some of the things she did, and frankly, this talking to the planet thing kind of freaked him out a little.

Red looked at Aeris and understood as well. They waited in an uncomfortable silence for a while, until Aeris finally turned to look at them.

"The planet feels danger," she said.

"What sort of danger?" Cloud asked.

"I can't say," she replied. She looked at them in silence for a moment, as if searching for the right words.

"It's hard to explain. It's like, if you are alone in a dark house, and you feel like something is in the closet. There's no real reason to believe anything it there. It's just a feeling. So you walk over and look in the closet, and it's empty, but you still feel like something is there, or something should be there. I can feel the sense of danger, but nothing is wrong."

She looked at him to see if he understood, but his furrowed brow told her that he didn't.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm afraid I just can't put it into words."

She stood up.

"I'm going up to my room."

Without another word she walked away. Cloud watched her disappear up the stair. He looked at Red, but neither one spoke for a long time.

"I'm worried about her," he said finally.

"How so?" Red questioned.

"There's no doubt in my mind that we're going to run into trouble somewhere along the line," Cloud continued. "Maybe as early as tomorrow when we start our search. It's going to be difficult for us without the use of our materia, but for Aeris in particular. I know she's a wiz with magic but her hand to hand skills are the weakest among us. I'm afraid she might get hurt."

Red looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, then nodded.

"Is that why you made sure she goes with you tomorrow, to keep an eye on her?"

"Yes," Cloud replied. "To tell you the truth I'd feel safer if she didn't come at all, but I know she wouldn't go along with that."

"I think you might be underestimating her," Red said. "But if you really feel that way, maybe you should send her with Cid in the Slipstream. She should be safe enough there."

"I thought about that too," Cloud answered. "But if she's going at all, I think it would be better if she's someplace I can keep an eye on her."

Red shrugged.

"If that's the way you feel. But I wouldn't worry about her too much. She's been through a lot, more than any of us, and she's come out of it all right. She just may surprise you."

"I suppose," Cloud replied, sitting back on the couch. "I guess we'll find out soon enough."


	5. Winter Wonderland

CHAPTER V

WINTER WONDERLAND

Tifa turned sharply and slid to a halt. She stepped off her snowboard and looked back up the slope. The others were far behind. She could make out one small figure up on the slope above her, but of the other there was no sign.

She studied the figure, but he was too far away to identify. Still, she knew it had to be Red. He was going in much too straight a line to be Barret.

She picked up her snowboard and looked around. It had snowed during the night, laying down another six inches of powder over the ground that had already been covered, and blanketing the trees in the forest in front of her with a layer of white.

She glanced up. The sky was clear now, and the sun shone brightly, but it gave off little warmth. Although she was flushed with heat from the effort of snowboarding down the slope, she knew it would soon pass. She pulled the zipper on her ski suit up another inch, thankful that they had had the foresight to come properly prepared this time.

She looked back up the slope. She could see Red plainly now. He had a rather unique snowboarding method. She had never seen anyone sitting on one before. However, though not very fast it did seem to be effective enough.

She looked back up the slope as Red came to a stop beside her. She could see Barret now. He seemed to favor the slide wildly out of control, then fall and roll method of snowboarding. Even as she looked she saw him take a tumble.

She shook her head. Cloud would have given her a run for the money. But he was...

Oh no, she wasn't going to get started with that again, she thought firmly. This wasn't the time or the place.

They waited patiently until Barret stumbled to a halt not far away. He stepped off the snowboard, picked it up, and heaved it into a nearby snowbank.

"Goddam stupidest form of transportation I've ever seen!" he said angrily as he walked over to them. Tifa smiled. With his clothing covered with snow from his numerous falls, he looked like nothing so much as a huge polar bear.

"What the hell is so funny?" he said, looking at her accusingly.

"Nothing," she replied, trying to look innocent. She pointed to the left. "I think the trail leads off this way."

"Ungh," he grumbled, and started off. Tifa and Red fell in behind. A narrow trail led into the trees. Tifa looked around, trying to remember if they had come this way when they were here the previous time, but she couldn't be sure. She remembered a lot of walking on trails through the forest, but they all looked pretty much the same to her.

The trail led east, and for a long time it ran level through the forest. After a while they came to a rocky area, and they investigated a small cave, but it was empty, and showed no sign of having been visited recently. The path from there led northward, and the ground started to climb up slowly.

Eventually they reached a large clearing with a single pine tree near the center. Tifa seemed to remember seeing that before. To the left the forest dropped down into a shallow valley. She could see the gleam of sunlight off of a small lake at the bottem. A trail led down that way, but the one they followed led northward, up steeply into the hills. She was sure they had been this way before, and the climb had not been easy. It was no easier this time, and they were all huffing and puffing when they finally reached a clearing high up on the hillside.

"Let's rest here a minute," Barret said. He brushed the snow off a fallen trunk of a tree and sat down.

Tifa quickly sat down beside him, gratful for the rest. They were high up in the hills now, and could see miles of wilderness below them. Tifa stared out at the land below. She could see no sign of them, but she knew that somewhere below them the others were making there way though that very same forest.

"What a veiw," Barret commented.

"Uh huh," she replied. She continued to stare, hoping to see...what? She really didn't know. Maybe a small movement somewhere in the trees below, or perhaps the flash of sunlight glinting off a sword.

"Almost makes it worth the trip up here," Barret continued. He looked around. "You know, I'm suprised we haven't run into any wild beasts. They were pretty numerous the last time we came through here. But we haven't seen one."

He turned to look at her.

"Or am I talking too much again?"

She smiled.

"No, you can talk. I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"It's okay, I'm a big boy," he replied. "I can take it. I just didn't realize how upset you were about the situation."

Tifa was silent for a moment.

"It's not even that really," she said finally. "It's not the Turks, although I don't like working with them. It's just that..."

"What the hell is he up to?" he interrupted.

She looked at Barret, who was looking behind them. She turned to see Red slowly working his way up through the rocks, head down and moving back and forth methodically.

"Red?" she called.

He did not answer. He continued moving up the rocks. Then he suddenly lept up onto a large boulder and disappeared behind it.

They both got up.

"Red!" Tifa called. "What are you doing?"

There was no response. They walked over the the rocks that Red had climbed. They saw nothing out of the ordinary. They both looked at each other.

"Where does he think he's going?" Barret asked.

Tifa shrugged.

"Don't know, but I guess we better follow."

They started up the rocks. They went slowly, for the footing was treacherous. Some of the rocks came free when stepped on, so they had to walk carefully. Eventually, however, they climbed up on the large boulder Red had disappeared beyond.

Red was in a narrow cleft that formed a small level clearing among the crumpled rocks of the mountainside. He seemed to be walking around randomly, nose to the ground as if sniffing the rocks. Every once in a while he would lift his head and sniff the air as well.

"Red, are you okay?" Tifa questioned.

Still he did not answer, though he was barely ten feet away and she knew he must have heard her. He had his head down once more, and now seemed to be concentrating on one small area just under the cliff face. He pawed a few of the rocks out of the way, his nose to the ground.

"What the hell had gotten into him?" Barret exclaimed.

They stepped down off the boulder and walked over to stand right beside him, but he still acted as if they did not exist. Suddenly he sat down on his haunches, lifted his head to the sky, and gave off a mournful howl.

"Red, what the hell is the matter?" Barret shouted.

Red howled again. Barret went to grab hold of him but Tifa stopped him. He looked at her, but she just shook her head and pulled his arm back slowly.

Barret shugged and they both just stood there. Red howled once more, then his head sank down to the ground. He sniffed once more, then turned towards them.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

"What the hell was that?" Barret exclaimed.

"I'm not quite sure," Red replied. "There's something here, or there was something here. I smell something in the air, and on the rocks, all around. I've never smelled anything quite like it. It made me feel so strange. I don't know how to explain it, but I've never experienced anything like it before."

"Something dangerous?" Barret asked.

"No, at least, I don't think so. But it isn't like that at all. It makes me feel...good, I think. I can't explain it."

Barret gave Red a puzzled look.

"Now you're begining to sound like Aeris. You're not making any sense at all."

Red shrugged.

"Sorry."

"Are you all right now?" Tifa asked.

"Yes, of course" Red replied.

Barret looked around.

"Well, if you're done doing...whatever it was you were doing, we better get going. There's only an hour or two of light left. We better get a move on if we are going to cover our area before dark."

They climbed back over the rocks and continued north. The trail now wound back downhill. It was much easier going and they soon reached the bottem of the slope. The sun was low in the sky now and hidden behind the mountain. The wind started to pick up, blowing in from the east. It felt much colder, and Tifa pulled her hood up.

"Look, there's another cave," Red said, looking over at a dark crevice at the base of the mountain to their left.

"Let's check it out," Barret said, starting over.

"A good excuse to get out of the cold," Tifa observed, following quickly.

The entrance was narrow, but it widened out immediately, and was quite spacious inside. Though the light inside was dim, it appeared empty. Tifa walked toward the back where she thought it might be warmer.

Red walked in last and looked around.

"Someone has been here," he said.

"Huh?" Barret exclaimed. "How can you tell?"

"There are faint tracks on the floor," he replied. "Not that recent, but not too old either."

He indicated a spot on the floor, and when Barret looked carefully he saw faint footprints. He stood up and looked at Tifa.

"There may have been somebody here," he said. "See anything back there?"

Tifa looked around, surprised. Somehow she had not expected them to find anything.

"No, I don't...oh my God."

"What?" Barret exclaimed. They rushed over to Tifa. She was standing with her hands covering her mouth, looking down at a body lying in the rear of the cavern.

"It's not Yuffie, is it?" Barret asked.

But it was obvious from a glance that it was not. It was a much larger person than Yuffie, and it was a man. He was laying on his stomach, with his face turned partially towards them. Barret looked at his face and at first thought it was a stranger, but then he realized it was familiar.

"It's Staniv," he said slowly.

"Oh no," Tifa said and turned away.

Red came up beside Barret and looked at the body.

"Did he freeze to death?" Barret asked.

Red did not answer for a moment.

"I'm not sure," he said slowly. "There aren't any cuts, but a lot of bruises. I don't know if that would have killed him. It looks like he was in some kind of fight though."

"Could he have gotten the bruises in a fall?" Barret asked.

Tifa steeled herself and turned to look at the body over Red's shoulder.

"Good question," Red replied. "Hard to say, though." He turned away and examined the floor for a while.

"There are a lot of tracks here," he said after a short silence. "At least five people. I don't think any of them were Yuffie, there's no tracks small enough to be hers. I think he was the victem of foul play. If the others had not been enemies, why would they leave him here?"

Tifa had been examining the body slowly, now she turned toward them.

"His neck was broken."

"What?" Barret said. He walked over to her. She pointed to a bruise on the back of Staniv's neck.

"Someone hit him at the base of the skull."

"Hit him with what?" Barret asked.

"Their fist," she replied. She stood up, still looking at the body. "And these other bruises, I think there's no doubt about it. He was killed by someone trained in martial arts. Someone who was very good."

They all stood in silence for a long time. Neither Barret nor Red doubted what Tifa said.

Finally Barret turned to look toward the entrance.

"We better get moving," he said. "It's almost dark. I think it's time to head to Mr. Holzoff's cabin. We've got a lot to tell the others."

No one else spoke, but Red followed Barret toward tne exit. Tifa glanced once more at Staniv's body, shivered, and slowly followed them out.

* * *

"Let's get moving," Cloud said.

Aeris slung her snowboard over her back and followed Cloud as he led them down the trail. She had been uncomfortable on the board, but she thought she had done quite well for a beginer. Cait had barely been able to stand on the board, and though she had tried to stay with him for moral support, he went so slowly that after about the tenth time he waved for her to go on she did just that. Cloud had stayed with her, though she knew he could have easily outdistanced her if he had chosen to.

Though she hadn't done badly she was still glad to be off the board and on her own two feet.

They trudged through the forest for quite some time in silence. Aeris wasn't exactly sure what she should be looking for. Some sign of Yuffie, she knew, but she hardly expected to run into her walking down the trail in the other direction. With last night's snowfall, it didn't seem likely they would find any tracks either. She kept her eyes open, but all she saw was the empty trail ahead and the snow clad trees all around.

Eventually they came to a large clearing with a frozen lake in the center. Cloud walked to the edge of the ice and looked out across the lake. He turned to the others.

"There's an island out there with a small cave. I remember it from the last time we were here. We should go check it out, but the ice on the lake is trecherous. Aeris, you better wait here while Cait and I go take a look."

"What, it's too dangerous for a girl?" she said, somewhat indignently.

"That's not what I meant," he replied. He had been hoping she wouldn't object, but to tell the truth, he hadn't been that hopeful. "It'll be better if we have someone back here safe. Then if we get in trouble, you can give us a hand or get us some help."

Aeris looked at him for a moment.

"Nice try," she said finally, "but I'm coming along."

Cloud turned away and shook his head. Women!

He started off across the ice, realizing that arguing was pointless. Aeris and Cait followed. Cloud remembered that the ice had been breaking up in the middle of the lake the last time, but now it was a solid sheet. It must be colder than it had been then, he thought. It made the going a little easier, but the wind and water had churned up the ice as it had frozen and there were jagged humps and narrow crevices they had to negotiate, so it was still trecherous, but they made it across without mishap.

The entrance to the cave was narrow and little over three feet high. They had to get down on hands and knees to enter. Aeris wasn't comfortable squeezing into such as small space, but she did not protest, and inside the cave was roomy enough.

They could see as soon as they entered that the cave had been inhabited some time in the past. There were some ragged sacks, or perhaps clothing, and the broken handle of what might have been a shovel in one corner, and there was a ring of ashes and some charred wood in the center of the room.

"Do you think this could have been left by Yuffie?" Cait asked, looking around.

Cloud pushed the pile of rags around with his foot.

"These could have been left by anybody," he replied. "I seem to remember at least some of this stuff being here the last time we came though. That fire, however, was not there. Someone has been here not too long ago, but unless we find some better clues, there's no way to tell who it was."

They looked around for a short while, but found nothing more. Although he had no proof, Cloud had a hunch this was somehow connected with Yuffie. This was a remote region, almost uninhabited. Any sign that they found at all was more than likely to be connected to her in some way.

"Looks like we've seen all we can see here," he commented. "Let's get going."

Even if they had found positive proof that Yuffie had been here it still wouldn't tell them much more than that they were on the right track.

They squeezed out the entrance and headed back across the ice. This time across Aeris slipped once and banged her knee painfully, but she glanced at Cloud and went on without a word. When they reached land once more they headed north along the eastern shoreline. A mountain rose up steeply on their right as they walked, but they stayed along the lake. Aeris shaded her eyes and looked up the slope. A trail led up that way, and she was glad they weren't going in that direction. She was tired enough trudging through the deep snow, going up the mountain would have made it even more difficult.

The lake curved slowly to the left until they found themselves heading west. Aeris noticed that this portion of the lake was ice free, and she could see steam curling off the water.

"Is this a hot spring?" she asked.

Cloud looked at the lake.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Let's stop for a minute," she said, walking toward the water without waiting for a reply.

As she approached the water she could feel the heat coming off it. She sat down on the edge and inhaled deeply. She had been cold and her knee ached where she had banged it, but the warmth made her feel much better.

She turned to the others to call them over.

A mound of white was moving toward them out of the trees at the foot of the mountain.

"Look out!" she cried.

Cloud turned to see a huge cicular mouth bristling with dagger like teeth bearing down on him. With a cry of surprise both he and Cait dodged out of the way. The mouth missed, but the huge bulk of the giant ice worm bowled them both over and sent them sprawling into the snow.

Cloud sprang to his feet, struggling to try to unsheath his sword. They had not met any dangerous creatures, and the sad fact was he had let down his guard. Now he flung himself to the side again as the jaws snapped at him one more time.

Cait found himself pinned under the creature in the snow, and thought for a moment he might be crushed by the huge weight. He would have been an easy target, but for the fact that the creature was focused on Cloud as it's main course. Cait struggled to pull himself out from under it, but to no avail. He pounded on the creature with his fists, but it felt like he was punching a huge rubber ball, and he doubted if the monster felt anything at all. He glanced over at Aeris, who had not moved from the lake. She was just standing there with her head bowed, not even looking at them. He didn't think there was much she could do, but she could at least lend a hand!

Cloud continued to dance wildly around in the snow trying to avoid the worms fearsome jaws, but the snow hindered his movements. As he dodged he looked for some kind of cover, but the treeline was a good thirty yards away, and he would never make it in this deep snow. If it would just give him a moment to draw his sword he would at least have a fighting chance.

Suddenly Cait found himself free. The worm had twisted round, swinging it's huge bulk into Cloud and sending him sprawling into deep snow. He scrambled to get up, but the snow made it nearly impossible to move. The worm towered above him.

Cait stood up and started to rush over, but the snow hindered him as well, and he knew he could not reach Cloud in time to be of any help. He looked over at Aeris, who suddenly looked up and raised her rod over her head.

An aura of yellow light suddenly blazed around her. It swirled and flashed in the air, and then it flashed out and inundated both Cait and Cloud.

Instantly Cloud felt himself filled with power. He drew his sword in an instant. He raised it over his head, and it flashed with light. The ice worm struck, and was met by cold steel. Cloud swung with inhuman speed, slashing like lightening, over and over again. Now the worm was stumblling backward, trying to escape from this floundering human that had suddenly turned into a ferocious beast. Cloud pressed in, showing no sign of fatigue or slowing, swinging the sword as if possessed by a demon. The worm reared up once again, but this time in it's death throes. Then it collapsed to the ground and lay still.

Cloud looked around, almost as if in a daze. It seemed to take him a long time to realize that the there were no more enemies to fight.

Cait stood looking at Cloud. Even though he had felt the power inside himself, he had barely had a chance to move before Cloud had dispatched the beast.

Cloud looked at Aeris, who was walking back over to them slowly.

"I take it that was your doing," he said.

Aeris nodded.

"You looked like you needed a hand," she said modestly.

A smile formed on his lips.

"Thanks," he said.

* * *

"About time," Elena said as Reno slid to a stop beside her.

Reno gave her a dark look.

"You're pushing your luck," he said. He stepped off the snowboard and slipped it over his back. Then he took out his nightstick and pointed it at her. "If we weren't on an important mission I'd be tempted to teach you a little lesson."

"Ohh, I'm so scared," she replied sarcastically.

Rude walked between them and started down the trail.

"Let's go kids," he said.

Reno stared at Elena for a moment more, then turned and followed Rude. There had been a definite lack of discipline lately, and it was starting to annoy him. The fall of Shinra had a lot to do with it, he thought, but the death of Tseng even more so. Tseng had been the leader, the one that had held them together. Things had changed since he was gone, and all for the worse. Reno had tried to carry on in Tseng's footsteps, had tried to hold together what Tseng had built, but he realized he didn't have the leadership qualities that Tseng had possessed. Elena especially had looked up to Tseng, and now that he was gone she seemed almost uncontrollable. He was unhappy that the once proud Turks appeared to have fallen so far, yet he was at a loss as to what he could do.

Sometimes he wondered why he even bothered about it. Even with the death of Tseng and the fall of Shinra they were still doing pretty well. There hadn't been any shortage of jobs for them, and they were actually doing quite well financially. When it came down to it, wasn't that all that really mattered?

Reno caught up with Rude and they walked together down the trail, Elena following a little behind. It was slow going in the deep snow, and Reno thought they would have been better off with skis than those blasted snowboards. At least they could have used those cross country. He also might have been able to keep up a little better. It didn't help his leadership qualities to have been left in the dust by both of the others.

Much as he hated to admit it, the money was not all there was to it. He had wanted to be a Turk since childhood. He still remembered the pride he had felt the first time he had slipped on the blue suit. How he had finally felt like he was part of something, that he belonged. After a childhood spent drifting from one foster family to another, he finally had found a home.

No, the Turks meant much more to him than just a name. They had been the only thing of importance in his life for almost as long as he could remember, and he was scared to death that the fall of Shinra would mean the end of the organization.

He glanced at Rude, who trudged on stoically. Good old dependable Rude. They had been friends since they had joined the Turks, but even Rude seemed changed since Tseng had died. Though he had never been much of a talker, Reno knew that Rude had shared his feelings about being a Turk. But now Rude just seemed to be going through the motions sometimes, and Reno suspected that Rude might just be staying with them because of their friedship, and not for any pride in the organization they represented.

He couldn't really blame either one of them, he thought ruefully. Just what did any of them have left to be proud of? Mabye Elena was right, and they had been reduced to stooges taking orders from a group of people they despised. Was this what the Turks were all about? What would Tseng think if he saw them now?

Reno looked up and suddenly saw that he had fallen behind both Rude and Elena, and now was last in line.

He shook his head. Tseng was dead, and there was no bringing him back, and no replacing him. He couldn't be Tseng, he thought, and it would just make things worse if he tried to be. He just had to be Reno, and go on as best he could.

They slowly made their way northward. For a long time they saw nothing but the trail and the forest surrounding them. Occasionally the trail would open up into a clearing, but they saw no sign that anyone had been in the area recently. The ground gradually grew rockier around them, and the land slowly rose up on their left. The trees became less numerous, but the land was broken up and full of jagged and jumbled rocks, so the going actually became more difficult. They discovered a small cave a little further down the path, but it was deserted.

The mountain rose up steeply on the left now. Reno glanced up and the glint of sunlight reflecting off something high up on the slope caught his eye, but in an instant it was gone. He kept glancing up as they continued walking, but saw nothing further.

Reno wondered if what he had seen was important. He couldn't think of anything out in the wilderness that would reflect the sunlight like that. They probably should check it out, but he wouldn't have been anxious to climb up that steep slope on the best of days, much less through deep snow when they were already exhausted.

He was tempted to walk on without even mentioning it to the others, but finally decided he was just being lazy. Typical Reno mentality, he thought.

He called the others to a halt and told them what he had seen. They looked up the slope, obviously no more anxious than he to climb up.

"Are you sure you saw something?" Elena asked dubiously.

"Yes," he replied. Did she think he was making it up? "The sun glinted off something, right up there. I'm sure of it."

"Okay," she replied. "I just wouldn't want to walk all the way up there for no reason."

"Where was it again?" Rude asked.

Reno pointed.

"Right around there."

"Don't see anything now," Rude stated.

"But there was something," Reno reiterated. Were they both doubting him now?

"I suppose someone should go check it out," Elena ventured. "But I don't see why we should all have to go up there."

Reno looked at her.

"So who's going to go?"

Elena shrugged.

"You're the one who saw it."

He resisted the urge to snap at her. He was the leader, he should either volunteer to do it himself or designate one of the others. He looked up the slope again. He did not want to go up there.

"We're all tired," he said finally. "Let's just rest for a little while. Then we can decide."

Elena shrugged but didn't object. They brushed the snow off some flat rocks on the side of the trail and sat down. The rock was uncomfortable and cold. Reno folded his arms acorss his chest to conserve body heat. This wasn't turning out to be one of their most comfortable assignments.

They were sitting there for only a few minutes when there was a sharp retort from somewhere up on the mountain above them. They all looked up at the sudden noise, which had sounded like nothing so much as a blast of gunfire, or cannon fire. It echoed through the valley around them.

"What the hell was that?" Rude said.

Reno stood up, puzzled. He looked up the slope and suddenly it looked as if the entire mountainside was moving.

"Avalanche!" he yelled. "Run."

They all scrambled up and ran as fast as they could through the snow back the way they had come. Reno kept glancing up at the slope, and each time he saw the wall of white closing on them with frightening speed. Now the ground around them trembled, making footing even more difficult. If they stayed on the trail they would be overwhelmed.

"This way," he shouted, running off the trail and into a tangled group of boulders to the right. He threw himself down behind the largest one and turned to the others.

Rude was just coming around the side of the boulder when the wall of snow struck. Reno saw Rude for an instant being thrown through the air, then everything turned white.

For a moment there was a thunderous roar, and then all went silent. Reno lay unmoving until he was sure it was over. When he tried to move he found he was pinned by the snow. He felt panic rise up inside him. God knew how deeply he was buried!

With all his strength he pushed upward. He felt the snow give a little, and then it fell away as he burst up into the sunlight. He stood for a moment looking around, blinking. He had not been deeply buried at all. The boulder had shielded him from the worst of it.

The others were nowhere to be seen. He stumbled away from the boulder in the direction he had last seen Rude, calling wildly. But just as he did so he saw Rude scramble out of the snow not ten feet away.

Rude looked at him.

"Where's Elena?"

"I don't know," Reno replied. She had not reached the shelter of the boulder before the avalanche hit. Thinking back on it now, he wasn't even sure if she had followed them. He couldn't remember looking back as they had run.

He looked around helplessly.

"How close to you was she when it hit us?" he asked.

Rude shook his head.

"I'm not sure."

"Did you see her at all?" Reno questioned sharply.

"She was behind us when we were on the trail," Rude replied. "I don't know if she followed us into the rocks."

"Damn," Reno muttered. He started working his way back to the trail. In some places the snow was over chest deep. Even if she had been following them the snow could have knocked her yards away. Unless she was right nearby it would take a miracle to find her.

Rude followed, a little further to the right.

As the minutes dragged by Reno began to despair. He didn't know how long she could survive under the snow and it was begining to look like it might be impossible to find her. She could be a pain in the ass sometimes, but she was still a Turk, she was still one of them. He did not want to lose her.

He paused for a minute to catch his breath and looked around helplessly. The snow had buried the entire trail in front of them. She could be anywhere.

He was about to continue when he stopped suddenly and looked around. He thought he heard a muffled sound.

Rude was scraping through the snow nearby.

"Rude, hold on a second," he said.

Rude stopped, and Reno stood there for a minute, listening carefully. He could faintly make out muffled cries.

"I hear her," he said forcefully. "She's over this way. Give me a hand."

He started shoving the snow away with renewed vigor. Rude came over to search beside him. He stopped again and now he hear her plainly, calling their names. She had to be close.

"Elena, we can hear you," he shouted. "Keep calling."

He pushed the snow aside to his right, and suddenly a hand appeared in the whiteness. He grabbed it and hauled her out of snow.

She gasped and shivered.

"Oh, thank God," she said. "I thought I was a goner."

They helped her over to the boulder, where she sat down to catch her breath. Reno and Rude sat down on either side of her.

"Are you okay?" Rude asked.

She nodded.

"I was so scared. I thought I was dead for sure. Thanks for pulling me out."

Rude just shrugged, and Reno didn't say anything, but just looked at her. She was actually a pleasent person when she dropped her arrogent air, and it kind of reminded him of why she had been chosen to join them in the first place. He just hoped it didn't always take a near death experince to bring out this side of her.

"Do you think you are strong enough to go on?" he asked.

She stood up slowly and looked at herself as if to check and see if all her parts were still there. Then she nodded.

"Do you think we can continue now that the trail is obliterated?" she asked.

Reno looked northward. The avalanche had dumped an enormous amount of snow on the trail in front of them. It would be difficult to get through.

"Yes," he said without hesitation. "It might be more difficult to go on, but we're much closer to Holzoff's cabin than if we turned back. Besides, someone deliberately set off that avalanche. Whoever did it was either trying to kill us outright or at least discourage us from continuing. Nothing would please me more than to show them that their little scheme had failed. It looks like we might be on the right track"

Elena nodded and the all stood up.

"Let's get going then," Rude said.

They headed northward once again, trying to make their way as best they could through the deep snow. It was difficult at first, but after about half a mile they passed the area where the avalanche had affected, and the snow subsided to only a foot or two.

Reno kept his eyes open for any hint that they were being watched, but saw nothing. He especially kept his eyes on the slope of the mountain to their left. Perhaps when they saw they had failed, whoever had caused the avalanche would try again, but he saw nothing out of place up there either.

The ground started to slope upward, and the mountain started to level out on their left, until finally it was a mere hill that posed no avalanche danger at all. Reno breathed a sigh of relief.

But it was a bit premature. As the reached the top of the slope they saw half a dozen people standing on the trail ahead of them.

"Looks like we're being met by the welcoming committee," Rude observed.

Reno slipped his nightstick out again and walked forward. The strangers stood in a line across the trail, looking as if they had been waiting for them, which was no doubt true. The were all dressed the same, in black outfits with a red insignia on the shirt. As he got closer he saw the insignia was of a red fist.

He stopped about ten feet in front of them.

One of the men in the middle of the group spoke.

"Apparently we didn't make it clear enough that we don't want any visitors here," he said. "I was hoping our little hint would convince you to turn around."

Reno shrugged.

"We are kind of thick headed that way," he replied.

"Who are you?" Elena demanded.

The man glanced over at her.

"That's not important," he answered. "It must have been difficult to get through that avalanche. I admire your determination. Too bad it was all for nothing."

"I wouldn't say that," Reno replied. "After all, we got to meet all you pleasent people."

"Very funny," the man said, "But I'm afraid your journey ends here."

"You expect us to turn around now?" Elena said. "After all we went through to get here? That's not very hospitable of you."

The man gave her a look of contempt.

"We don't expect you to turn back," he stated. "We expect you to die."

Elena and Rude stepped up on either side of Reno.

"Sorry," Reno said. "But I'm afraid we're going to have to disappoint you again."

Their opponents charged forward. Reno aimed his nightstick at the one who had spoken and let loose with a blast of electicity. The man cried out and fell to the ground, stunned. The others hesitated for just a moment, and then came forward again. Reno had no time for another blast before they were upon him.

He jabbed with his nightstick, forcing one attacker back. The other one kicked swiftly at his leg, landing a glancing blow and knocking him off balance for a moment. His own leg shot out even while off balance and managed to knock the other one back.

As a Turk he had been trained in all forms of combat, as had Rude and Elena. Though competent at hand to hand he was no expert, working as often with weapons or materia as with bare hands, not specializing in any particular area. There was no materia available at the moment, and his nightstick was not all that useful at close quarters. They were outnumbered by a group of people he soon realized were much more skilled than they in weaponless combat, and soon found themselves on the defensive.

Still, for a while they held their own in spite of the odds. Perhaps their enemy underestimated them, or perhaps the realization that they were fighting for their lives inspired them. Whatever the case they battled to a standstill for quite a while.

But eventually the tide inevitably began to turn in their opponents favor. With their superior numbers their enemy was constantly trying to slip someone behind them, and their constant manuevering to avoid this eventually found them with their backs to a pile of jumbled boulders which, though preventing them from becoming surrounded, also left them no place to retreat.

To his right an opponent suddenly got under Rude's guard and struck him solidly on the left cheek. Rude stumbled back and fell. A second man sprung forward to deliver another blow. Reno turned swiftly and let loose with another blast from his nightstick. The man went down as if hit by a truck.

Reno felt a solid blow to his side and he went down as well, the nightstick flying from his hand. To his left he saw Elena, backed up against a large rock, desperately trying to ward off two attackers.

The man who had spoken to them suddenly stood looking down at him.

"You have fought well," he said. "It may be of comfort to know that I take no pleasure in killing you."

"It's no thrill for us either," Elena piped in just before a blow to the forehead sent her to the ground as well.

Their opponents moved in to finish them, but suddenly they paused, looking around. A sound filled the air. Reno had not noticed it in the heat of battle, but now it was too loud for even that to mask it. It was the unmistakable roar of a jet engine.

The sound grew until it was nearly earsplitting. Then the Slipstream flew over them, so low that the nearby trees bent in the wind as it went by. Reno thought he could almost feel the heat from the exhaust of those great engines as it roared by.

Their opponents just stood looking at it. Obviously this was something they had not anticipated.

The Slipstream roared up into the air and swung around. Then it dropped down again and headed straight for them.

Their enemies hesitated, still looking at the jet. Then the one who had spoken turned to look at Reno.

"This isn't the end of it," he said.

In an instant he was off and running, the others following close behind. There was a narrow trail that led into a mass of rocks off to their left, and they sprinted down it as the Slipstream bore down on them.

Reno lay unmoving, looking up at the aircraft and watching the smoke trails as the Slipstream let loose with a barrage of rockets. The last of their opponents had just disappeared into the rocks when the entire area erupted in a ball of flame.

Reno shaded his eyes for a moment at the blast, and felt a shower of pebbles from the pulverized rock wash over him. He hastily covered his head.

When he looked up again there was a sizable crater where the missles had hit. He couldn't see how anyone could have survived such a blast.

Slowly he stood up. He walked over to Elena and helped her up as Rude came up next to them.

The Slipstream made another turn and came around again, this time much more slowly. Rude and Elena waved.

The black jet waggled it's wings as it went by, then streaked off to the north.

They stood there in silence for a few minutes.

"Everyone okay?" Reno asked finally.

Rude nodded.

"Yes," Elena said.

Reno walked over and inspected the area around the crater. He came back to them in a few minutes.

"I don't know if any of them survived, but there's no one around now," he said. "There is a narrow path beyond the rocks. If any of them escaped, that must be the way they went. We're obviously close to something they don't want us to find, but even if all those we saw were killed, we don't know how many others there may be. I think the best thing to do now is to head for Holzoff's cabin and tell the others. I think for this job we're going to need all the help we can get."

Rude and Elena said nothing but followed him as he slowly led them down the right hand trail. No one suggested exploring any further. They had all had more than enough excitement for one day.

* * *

Cid and Vincent were the last to arrive at Mr. Holzoff's cabin that evening. They brought the Slipstream down on a rocky outcrop just after dark. Soon they were all gathered around the fire inside swapping stories of the days events.

"Sounds like we had a boring day compared to everyone else," Barret commented.

"I wouldn't call finding the dead body of someone we knew a boring day," Tifa commented humorlessly.

Barret looked at her but said nothing.

"Did you see any sign of the people who attacked us?" Elena asked Vincent.

"No, but we did find something strange," Cid cut in. "A little to the west of you was a narrow valley filled with fog. Couldn't see a thing in it. It was a clear day and there was no sign of fog anywhere else in the region."

"So you think the fog was artifically created?" Cloud asked.

Cid nodded.

"That's my guess. It corresponds to the direction those people took off in after they attacked you," he said, looking at Elena. "I think the fog is being generated by someone to conceal something. Something they obviously don't want anyone else to find out about."

Cloud sat back in his chair.

"You could be right," he said. "At any rate it looks like this bears further investigation. Whoever these people are, they're going through a lot of trouble to prevent us from finding them. There's no doubt in my mind they are connected with the death of Staniv and the disappearence of Yuffie."

"Do you think you killed any of them when you attacked them?" Cait asked.

Cid shrugged.

"Who can say? Reno, you said you didn't find any bodies. Unless we got a direct hit, the broken terrain could have protected them. I'm sure at least some of them got away."

"And who knows how many others there are?" Barret mused. "For all we know the hills could be crawling with them."

"I don't think there could be that many," Red observed. "If there were a lot of them someone would be bound to have seen some sign of them. Out in this wilderness they would have to be getting supplies from somewhere."

"However many there are, it's going to be tough to fight them without our materia," Cloud said. "How good were they?"

"Very good," Elena said.

Reno nodded slowly.

"Difficult to say because we were outnumbered. We might have had a chance one on one."

"Oh, stop it," Elena replied. "They would have kicked our asses and you know it."

Reno rolled his eyes.

Cloud looked at Tifa.

"What do you think?"

Tifa shrugged.

"All I saw was some bruises on Staniv's body. I wouldn't be able to say until I actually saw them fight."

"You may soon get the chance," Cloud replied. "I think our first order of business tomorrow will be to check out this mysterious fog. And I think it would be best if we all went together."

He looked around, but no one else seemed to have anything to add, and they fell silent. Cait and Barret went upstairs. Reno got up and went into the kitchen. He came back in a minute with two drinks and sat back down next to Rude, handing him one.

"She's been hanging out with that freak an awful lot lately," he said quietly, nodding toward Elena and Vincent, who were talking together on the other side of the room. "What's the matter, we're not good enough for her anymore?"

Rude glanced over toward Elena and then looked at Reno.

"You jealous?"

Reno chuckled softly.

"Yeah, right."

He took a long drink from his glass.

"It's not that," he continued. "She's a Turk, we should stick together. Being friendly like that might give them the wrong impression."

Rude did not respond.

Tifa got up and walked toward the hallway. Reno saw Rude's gaze following her. He nudged him.

"And you're no better," he said. "You better forget about that one, though, she's way out of your league."

Rude shook his head slightly, his face remaining expressionless. He took a drink and then looked at Reno.

"So who's your favorite?" he asked.

Reno raised an eyebrow.

"Out of this bunch? Not much to choose from," he replied.

Rude looked at him skeptically.

"All right," he said. He paused and looked around carefully, as if making sure they weren't overheard. Then he turned to Rude and said in a low voice.

"To tell you the truth, anyone that'll say yes."

Rude looked at him, but he just smiled in return. Rude shook his head and drained his drink. He got up.

"You are one screwed up dude," he said. "See ya later."

"What," Reno called after him. "As if you wouldn't."

He was about to turn back to his drink when Aeris walked by. He got up and followed her into the kitchen.

Aeris glanced at him as he came in.

"Wouldn't what?" she questioned.

"Huh?"

"As if you wouldn't what?"

Reno smiled.

"Nothing," he replied. "Just guy talk. What, were you spying on us?"

"Of course not," she answered, taking him seriously. "You said it loud enough."

"So, it sounds like you saved Cloud's ass today," he changed the subject.

"I wouldn't go that far," she said. "It was a battle. We all helped each other, just like always."

"Don't be so modest," he answered. "You know, I really don't understand you."

"What do you mean?"

"You're so much better than they are. You've been running around with a two bit terrorist with a chip on his shoulder and his brainless cronies for how long now? When are you going to ditch them and find some people who are more in your class?"

She looked at him for a moment in surprise.

"You mean like you?" she asked finally.

"Well, it would be an improvement," he replied with a smile.

She looked at him skeptically.

"Are you drunk?" she asked bluntly.

He gave a slight shrug.

"Not yet."

"You're out of your mind," she said. "I better get back to the others."

He stepped out of her way as she walked by.

"That spikey haired jerk is just going to break your heart," he said.

"As if you wouldn't," she answered immediately.

Reno was not about to deny it.

"At least I have some charm," he suggested.

She shook her head and walked out of the room. He stood there for a moment, then drained his drink.

"Oh well," he said softly, and turned to get himself another.

* * *

Tifa sat on a narrow porch in front of the cabin, staring into the dark. She could occasionally catch the sound of someone talking inside if they raised their voice, but that was not often. There was no wind, and the night was silent and clear.

She looked up and the stars blazed above her in cold fury, almost unaturally bright and beautiful.

The door to the cabin opened and light flared around her briefly. Then it closed again. She looked over to see Rude standing by the door looking out into the dark. She turned back and looked out blankly into the night. For a long time neither one spoke.

"Cold night," Rude said noncomittingly.

"Umm," Tifa said, not looking at him. For a long moment he thought she would say nothing more.

She looked up at the sky again.

"But the stars are so pretty. I love looking at them on winter nights. I can't explain it, but they always looked best to me in the winter, almost as if they were closer somehow."

She fell silent again. She didn't even know why she was talking. She had come out here to be alone.

Rude took a hesitant step toward her, then changed his mind and sat down where he was. He looked up at the sky.

"It is pretty," he said.

She nodded but again said nothing. She heard a short bark of laughter from inside. It sounded like Cid.

"There's something..." Rude said and stopped. She glanced over at him but he didn't finish at first, just looked at her for a moment and turned away.

"Umm?" she said.

"There's something I want to tell you," he said slowly, not looking at her. "You probably don't care. I mean, it probably won't make any difference, but I want you to know..."

He stopped again and looked at her. She returned his gaze expectantly, athough she was not sure she wanted to hear what he had to say.

"I don't know whether you'll believe me. I don't expect you to believe me. I know how you feel about the Turks, but I didn't know what they were going to do to sector seven until it was too late."

He turned away again, looking down at the ground now. For a long time she just looked at him. Then she shrugged.

"Too many people have died," she said softly.

He looked at her again. He hadn't been sure how she would react to his statement. At least she didn't seem angry.

"It never ends, does it?" she asked, then went on before he could answer. "It seems all my life people have been dying around me. My parents, my friends in Avalanche, Aeris, and now Staniv. When does it all end? When we first started Avalanche I thought we were saving the world, and maybe we have for others, but not for us. I thought after Shinra was destroyed we could live in peace, but I don't think that'll ever happen now."

She looked up at the stars again.

"Maybe it's my own fault," she went on. "I chose a bloody path when I helped destroy the reactors in Midgar. Maybe once you choose that path there's no turning back, or changing direction. Maybe now I'm paying for all the people who died in Midgar."

She bowed her head and said nothing more. Rude resisted the urge to move closer to her, but just sat there, knowing there was nothing he could do to comfort her, but wishing there was.


	6. Eating with the Enemy

CHAPTER VI

EATING WITH THE ENEMY

Yuffie ran over to the small window and looked out. The room she was in was high up in the fortress and overlooked a small courtyard. Nine men were down in the courtyard below, excersizing. She stood looking out the window, running vigoursly in place, as she had been for the last half hour. Sweat dripped from her forehead and her clothes were soaked.

She ran back into a corner of the room where she could not be seen just in case someone looked through the little window in the door to her chamber. Although it was unlikely anyone would. No one came to her room until shortly after they had finished excersizing outside. They were so predictable.

She continued running in place, every once in a while going over to look out the window, until she saw the people below leaving the courtyard. Then she started to count to herself. When she reached five hundred she walked over to the bed, lay down and closed her eyes.

Less than five minutes later she heard someone at the door. It opened and she heard them come into the room. Although she did not open her eyes, she knew from previous experience there would be two of them.

"Hey, you alright?" she heard one man say.

She didn't respond.

"Hey," the man said. It sounded like he was right beside her now.

"Is she okay?" she heard the second man ask.

Someone shook her.

"Are you alright?" he said loudly in her ear.

She turned her head slightly and moaned.

"She's sweating like a pig," said the man.

She felt a hand on her forehead for a moment.

"She's burning up."

"She seemed sick for the last few days," she heard the second man say.

They were silent for a moment.

"You better go get someone to take a look at her. We don't want her to die just yet."

She heard footsteps slowly fading away. She opened her eyes a slit to see the man who was left glancing back toward the door.

Her foot came up and caught him in the back of the head.

"Ugh," he said, and fell to the side. She sprang up and pummeled him with numerous quick blows. He was too surprised to defend himself, and after half a dozen blows fell to the floor and lay still.

She jumped past him and ran out the open door. To the left the hall ended blindly. She turned to the right and saw a man with white hair and beard leaning against the wall, looking at her thoughtfully.

She stopped.

"Damn!" she exclaimed.

He walked slowly over to her.

"Much as you may find it hard to believe, but we are not all idiots. I hope you didn't damage Danz too badly. He's a good man, though a little green."

He indicated her chamber.

"Shall we go back in?"

She looked him over for a moment but did not move.

He smiled.

"Do you wish to challange me again? I have to admit I admire your spirit. You are very brave, though still young and foolish. If you play your cards right, you may still get out of this with your skin intact. As the daughter of the leader of Wutai you are a valuable prisoner, one I would not wish to see die unneccesarily, but if you keep up these foolish escape attempts, you may leave me with no choice."

He stepped back into ready position.

"So what will it be?" he asked casually.

She looked at him for a moment in silence, then sighed and walked back into her chamber. He followed her in, but she could sense he still had not let down his guard.

Danz was just getting up from the floor, holding his head. He turned and looked at Yuffie darkly.

"You're going to pay for this," he said through clenched teeth.

"Enough," the white haired man said commandingly. "It is not her fault you were stupid enough to fall for her trap. Understand your mistake and learn. Never underestimate your enemy nor let down your guard in their presence. That is what you should take from this, not a witless desire for revenge. Do you understand?"

Danz bowed his head.

"Yes, honored one."

"Good. You will make a fine warrior someday, but you have much to learn. You will continue to guard our prisoner, and she will not escape or be harmed in any way, or you will be held responsible. You have seen her tricks, and have fallen into one of her traps, but that can be forgiven. To have it happen again, however, would disgrace you. Do not let that happen."

"Yes, honored one, thank you" Danz replied again.

"Very good. Now why don't you get our 'guest' some clean clothes. She seems to have rather abused the ones she's wearing, and we wouldn't want her to be uncomfortable."

Danz walked out the door. The older man followed but turned to Yuffie when he reached the entrance.

"My guess is that it would be pointless for me to ask you to stop making these escape attempts. I think you feel duty bound to continue regardless. A point of honor, I would say. At least, that is how I would feel about it. Nevertheless, I am going to ask. You will not escape. I will be watching at all times. Continuing can only lead you to harm, and even though I do not wish that, do not doubt that I will kill you if it becomes neccesary. Your stay here can be quite pleasent or otherwise, it is up to you."

He turned away and closed the door. Yuffie did not move for some time, then turned slowly and lay down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Already she was thinking about her next move.

* * *

Cloud awoke refreshed. He thought he had dreamed some, but he couldn't remember what about, only that it left him with a satisfying feeling. He couldn't remember the last time he had had a pleasant dream.

Tifa was in the kitchen, whipping up breakfast for all of them. The others were in the main room, all except Reno and Cid, who were still presumably sleeping. After a while Vincent and Rude went to fetch the two laggards, and finally managed to get them up with threats of missing breakfast. Soon after they gathered their gear and headed up into the hills in the direction Cid and Vincent had seen the mysterious fog the day before.

It was a little warmer than the day before, but not much. The sky was clear and the trail seemed little changed. It didn't take them long to reach the place where the previous days altercation had taken place. They inspected the area where the missles from the Slipstream had hit but, like yesterday, found nothing of significance. There was a narrow path that led up through the rocks to the west, and Cloud soon led them up it.

The path led over the top of a jagged ridge, and then dropped down into a shallow valley. Or what they took for a shallow valley, for all they could see below them was a sea of fog.

"I guess this must be the place," Cloud commented.

The path narrowed as it dropped down into the mist, and they were forced to walk in single file. Cloud could see but a few feet ahead through the fog, and the walls of the canyon rose up steeply on either side of them. He moved foward slowly. He did not have a good feeling about this. The lack of visibility and narrow confines practically screamed ambush.

He drew his sword and continued on. If they did run into an ambush, he was going to be prepared. He listened intently as he went. With the low visibility he thought he might hear something before he saw it. Even that was unlikely, however. Anyone walking through the soft snow would make little sound, and they wouldn't have an opportunity to hear even that if their enemy was already waiting on the trail ahead. The only way to hear them would be if they slipped up and spoke or made some other sound accidently, and he didn't think that would happen. Even if they did slip up and make a sound, it was unlikely he would hear it with all the talking that was going on behind him.

He turned to look at the others.

"Quiet," he said, trying to speak loud enough for all of them to hear but not loudly enough to be overheard by others. "With all this talking we might as well be shouting 'here we are.'"

Some of the others gave him a look but they all fell silent.

He turned around and led them down the trail once more. They seemed to have reached the floor of the valley, for the ground leveled out and the steep walls on either side of them fell away. Now they were walking in a sea of snow and fog with no landmarks at all except for trees that materialized out of the mist occasionally around them.

They walked on for some time with no sign that anyone else was in the area. Though he was walking what he hoped was a more or less straight line, with little visibility and few landmarks, Cloud soon became unsure of which direction they were traveling in. He hoped he wasn't just leading them in circles.

Barret, who was directly behind him, seemed to be thinking much the same thing.

"In this fog we could walk within ten yards of someone and not see them," he said softly. "We could wander around in here for months. How are we going to find them? Assuming, of course, that there is in fact someone in here and we're not just walking around on some wild goose chase."

"I feel the same way," Cloud replied. "but I don't see that there is anything we can do about it, unless someone knows some way to make this fog magically disappear. We'll just have to keep trudging along and hope to stumble upon something through blind luck. I don't think we are wasting our time, though. I know they're here somewhere. We're close to them, I can feel it."

Barret did not reply, willing to trust Cloud's instincts, but he was not happy about it. With each passing minute he felt more and more like a rat trapped in a maze.

They moved on, and soon after Cloud did hear a sound ahead of them, the sound of flowing water. A river appeared out of the gloom and they stopped at it's bank. The water was flowing swiftly, preventing it from freezing over. It was not very wide, but it looked too deep to wade through, and he knew none of them would be anxious to swim in freezing water.

"What now?" Elena said.

Cloud looked across the water, but he could not see much past the far bank.

"Well, we can't cross here. Let's head upstream. Maybe we can find somewhere to cross further on."

There wasn't much else for anyone to say, and they followed him once again as he led them beside the river. For a while they saw nothing, but then something dark appeared on the river ahead.

"What's that?" Aeris asked.

Before anyone could answer the mist cleared slightly and they could all see it was a wooden bridge that spanned the river.

"A bridge," Cloud replied unnecessarily.

He led them quickly over to it, heartened to have finally found some sign that they were not traveling through empty wilderness. When they reached the bridge he found something to please him even more. A trail of footprints came from out of the mist and crossed over the bridge.

"Looks like we're not alone out here after all," Cait said.

"It's about time we found something," Barret commented.

Cloud said nothing but led them quickly over the bridge. The tracks led off to what he considered the west, athough in the fog that was only a guess. He led them swiftly now, though he still kept his eyes open. He felt much better now that they were no longer wandering around aimlessly, but by the same token he knew the chances of an ambush were greater as well.

The trees closed in around them, but the track went in a more of less straight line and was easy to follow. Soon they saw a dark mass loom up out of the mist in front of them. The stepped forward to find themselves at the base of a large stone building.

The tracks led up to an iron bound wooden door.

"Never thought I'd see anything like this out here," Cid commented.

Even as he spoke dark figures materialized out of the fog around them. There were more than twenty of them. They all wore the same identical black outfits. Not exactly designed to blend in with the snow, but the fog had hidden them well enough. A man Reno recognized as the one he had spoken with yesterday stepped forward.

"I told you it wasn't over," he said, looking at Reno. "I knew you'd be back. Some people are just gluttons for punishment. I see you've brought some friends, for all the good it will do you."

He looked up.

"And I don't think we'll be getting any rude interruptions from above," he added. "It is death to look upon this fortress."

"Yeah, yeah, we know," Reno replied dismissively. "We heard it all yesterday, but surprise, surprise, we're still here."

"Not for long," the man replied. "Yesterday I said I would not enjoy killing you, but after that dirty trick with that airplane it will be a pleasure."

"You're wasting time," said a deep voice from the back. "Finish them."

Their opponents started forward immediately. Cloud did not have time to form a battle plan, and the fight soon became a confusing melee. It was impossible to keep track of everyone, and he quickly decided it was best to tend his own business and not worry about the others. Not waiting for the enemy to reach him, he sprang forward to the attack.

Tifa tried to stay close to Cloud. As she followed him a man came up on her left. He struck at her with his fist. She blocked and kicked at his knee, but he dodged nimbly out of the way and countered with a kick of his own. It got under her guard and hit her in the side. With a grunt she went down. He stepped toward her and she instantly swept her leg around and brought him down too. She sprang to her feet and kicked again before he could get up, hitting him in the side of the face. He fell back and lay still. She turned to follow Cloud, her side aching. Elena had been right, she thought ruefully. They were good.

* * *

Cid had formed a defensive line alongside the Turks, with Vincent to back them up. He saw Reno's nightstick flash once with electricity before the enemy was upon them. He slashed visciously with his spear at anyone who came near him, but it seemed all he could hit was air. Every one of their opponents seemed to be amazingly fast. He swung at another one, who jumped quickly out of the way.

"Stand and fight, you little SOB's," he growled.

Almost immediately he felt his knees buckle as he was struck from behind. He scrambled to dodge a second blow as the man attempted to finish him off. He heard the sound of gunfire and the man cried out in pain and, clutching his leg, stumbled away.

Cid looked over at Vincent, but he was now firing at a group of men who had surrounded Reno and Rude. He was about to go help them as well when he saw another man run up to Vincent. He kind of stood out because he had white hair and looked much older than any of the others. Too old to be fighting this kind of battle, Cid thought. Vincent turned toward the man and fired at point blank range, but somehow the man managed to twist out of the way. His arm came up, and Vincent's gun went flying through the air.

Vincent swung his fist, but the man ducked under it. His arm came up again and Vincent when down hard.

With a cry Cid ran over to them. The man turned toward him but made no move, waiting for Cid to attack. Cid was happy to oblige. He swung angrily with his spear, but the man almost casually stepped out of the way. Cid swung again, and the man stepped inside of the blow and struck Cid on the chest. Pain radiated throughout his body and he fell to the ground, dropping his spear beside him. He tried to get up, but his body would not respond. He could only watch helplessly as the man stooped down beside him. Then everything faded into darkness.

The old man stood up and glanced around. Even as he did so another man appeared out of the mist. He quickly hurried over.

"Honored one," he said with a bow, "we request your assistance. The man with the sword fights with the strength of ten."

The old man looked over to where the Turks were fighting. They were cornered against a rocky slope. Already one of them was on the ground, and the other two were barely holding their own against six opponents. He nodded and quickly followed the man, who swiftly led him away.

* * *

Barret fired a long blast from his gun and his opponents scrambled for cover among the rocks.

"Yeah, go ahead and run you little shits," he said with a smile. He turned to his left. Aeris and Red were battling against four others. He started over toward them when another man appeared in front of him. He fired and the man dodged away.

"You wouldn't be so tough without that gun," the man called from behind some rocks.

Barret smiled again.

"Tough luck, bub, it's part of the package," he replied, and fired another blast in the man's general direction.

Suddenly three others sprang out of the rocks nearby and charged at him. With a curse he turned and fired. He thought he got one before he felt a stinging blow to the back of his head. He fell to the ground. He tried to get up again immediately, but when he did his head practically exploded with pain. He fell back down and quickly slipped into unconciousness.

Red saw Barret go down, but they were too far away for him to do anything about it. Besides, he had enough problems of his own trying to hold off three attackers. He had remembered Cloud's concerns about Aeris and tried to stay with her, but he had been so busy fighting for his own life he hadn't had much time to be worried about her.

She stood not far behind him, holding her own against the lone other attacker. Three of the four that had taken down Barret were now rushing toward them, the other one was on the ground, wounded. Red knew they would stand no chance against seven.

He lauched himself at the one man who stood between himself and Aeris. The man jumped out of the way and Red raced over to her. The man she was fighting saw him coming and turned, but as he did so Aeris struck him solidly with her rod. He grunted and then scrambled out of the way.

"There are too many of them," Red said as he came up beside her. "See if you can get us some help, I'll try to hold them off."

Aeris hesitated.

"I don't want to leave you," she said. She couldn't see the others in the fog, although she could hear the sounds of battle nearby. She knew Red wouldn't last very long at seven to one.

"No time to argue," he said curtly. "It's our only chance!"

Aeris looked at him, then turned and ran. However she may feel about it, she knew he was right.

He turned and crouched as the seven men slowly approached, fanning out around him.He watched them carefully. Even if the others were not in the same predicament as he, or worse, he doubted Aeris could get back in time. Whatever happened, he was on his own, and the odds didn't look good. He didn't stand much of a chance at seven to one. But he couldn't help but remember someone else who had fought bravely against even longer odds.

They had him surrounded now, and they cautiously approached. He turned to look from one to the other, trying to look confused so as to conceal his intentions. Perhaps he could catch them off guard, though they seemed too seasoned to fall for that. Still, any little advantage might help. He waited a moment more, crouched down, and then, thinking of his father, suddenly lauched himself at the nearest opponent.

* * *

Cloud found himself back by the river, although not by intention. He fell upon his enemies with wild abandon, swinging the sword as one possessed, and even his opponent's formidable hand to hand skills were no match for him. They fell back before him, and soon realized they could not challenge him directly, at least not one on one. But Cloud's aggressive style left him open to attack on his flanks, and if he had been alone he soon would have fallen in spite of his considerable skills. But Tifa and Cait remained with him, guarding his flanks. With Cloud thus protected he was nearly unstoppable, and the enemy soon concentrated their attacks on Tifa and Cait, hoping to peel away his protection. But in Tifa they met an opponent with hand to hand skills at least equal to their own, and Cait's huge body could absorb a lot of punishment without much discomfort. For a long time they more than held their own.

Cloud swung his sword one more time as an enemy ran by, then looked up. For a moment their opponents had fallen back, and it was quiet around them. He glanced around warily.

"Where are the others?" he asked.

Tifa shook her head.

"I don't know," she replied. "But I don't like it. I don't hear any more fighting."

Cloud nodded. They could have just moved so far away from the others that they were out of earshot. Or it could mean that the other battles were over. If that were true it did not bode well, for if their friends had won then why hadn't they come to help. On the other hand, if their opponents had won, why hadn't they come to help their side.

Even as he thought this he heard a shout and their opponents attacked again. Cloud was not sure how many there were. He could see three right in front of him, and some others to the sides, but he had no time to stop and count them. He heard a shout from Cait that there were some coming up behind as well.

He attacked. Two of the three in front of him dropped back as he came at them. The third man stood his ground. He was a much older man with white hair, and he looked out of place in the middle of the battle, but Cloud wasn't about to stop and ask questions.

His sword whistled through the air, but that was all it cut. Though Cloud was sure the man could not dodge the blow he somehow managed it. He stepped toward Cloud and struck at his chest.

With catlike relflexes of his own Cloud dodged backward to avoid the blow. But doing so made him loose his balance and he stumbled backward into Tifa. The old man moved in while Cloud was off balance, but before he could stike Tifa turned to face him.

They both stopped and stood staring at one another. Neither one moved.

"Zangan," she said softly.

Zangan looked at her, the raising of one eyebrow the only indication of his surprise. He saw one of his men coming up behind her.

"Stop!" he shouted commandingly. Their opponents immediatly broke off their attack and stepped back.

Zangan looked around, making sure he had everyone's attention.

"This battle is over."

* * *

Cloud sat beside his frends in a large common room inside the fortress. They were gathered around a wooden table in the center of the room. A table covered with dishes and plates and food of all varieties. Across from them at the same table sat many of the men they had been battling to the death just a short time ago. He thought it amazing how quickly things had changed.

Zangan sat at the head of the table, with Tifa to his right and Cloud next to her. The two had been talking almost non stop since they had recognized each other. Cloud looked the man over. So this was her famous mentor. They had met once briefly in Nibelheim, but Cloud would never have recognized him after all this time. Except for the fact that his hair was as white as any he had ever seen, the man looked downright ordinary. Walking by him on the street Cloud would never have guessed that this was the man who taught Tifa practically everything she knew about fighting. If he had not seen the man in action himself he would have thought him long past his prime.

Though Zangan seemed perfectly at ease Cloud could tell that some of the others at the table were not. He could see that more than a few of them, most with wounds inflicted just recently, were eying the newcomers darkly. Cloud could hardly blame them. In fact, he could see some people on his side of the table with the same look on their faces.

Zangan noticed as well.

"Let me apologize again for the rudeness of your reception," he said. "Our mission is to guard the fortress against theives. Important work is going on here, and there are some who would go to great lengths to interfere with it. I assumed you were here for the same purpose. It was foolish of me."

"So you treat anyone who happens by as if they were a thief?" Barret said. His head still ached from the blow they had given him.

"Barret!" Tifa exclaimed.

Zangan held up his hand.

"No, he's right," he said. "Again I apologize. It's just that this place is so secluded I thought anyone who came here would have to be up to no good. I realize now how wrong I was, but I cannot take back anything that was done. I am just thankful that no one was killed. If it makes you fell better, we have just as many, if not more, bruises to show for it. Your fighting skills are admirable."

Barret scowled but said nothing more.

"Exactly what kind of work are you doing here?" Red spoke up.

Zangan looked at him and shook his head slowly.

"I have heard about the legendary beasts of Cosmo Canyon that talk like a man, but I had only half believed it," he said.

"We can talk business later if you wish," he continued, returning to the point of Red's question. "For now relax and enjoy your meal. Perhaps our hospitality now can make up to some extent for what we put you through."

Cid, who had been eating almost nonstop since the meal was laid before him, looked up.

"Well, it certainly doesn't hurt," he stated. "My compliments to the chef."

Cloud wondered if Zangan was evading the question, but he supposed they would find out soon enough.

"You said your job was to guard this place," he ventured. "Who hired you? Who's running this place?"

"To guard it, and to train the security forces," Zangan replied with a nod. "The man who actually owns it is a scientist named Quays. He should be coming up shortly, but he is kind of an eccentric and doesn't like visitors."

"That's apparent," Elena piped in.

Zangan glanced up briefly at her for a moment and then continued.

"He's working on one of his projects right now. In fact, he spends almost all his time down in the lab. He set this whole thing up in this secluded area just so there would be no one around to disturb him."

"It seems like he's gone through an awful lot of trouble to keep people away," Cloud said. "It what he is doing really that important?"

Zangan started to reply and then looked past Cloud.

"Here he comes now," he said. "I'll let him answer for himself."

They turned and saw a man approaching. He was wearing ordinary clothes, and was the first person they had seen here who was not dressed in the black outfit. He had short brown hair and looked suprisingly young. He did not fit Cloud's image of a scientist at all.

The man walked around behind them and came up beside Zangan. He looked at them and nodded a greeting.

"I assume you want some sort of explanation of what is going on here," he said. "I will be happy to tell you about it, but it's too noisy in here, and some of the imformation might not be suitable for all ears. Why don't we retire to the sitting room. It's much quieter there, and more secluded.

Cloud shrugged in agreement. Apparently the man trusted his own people little more than strangers.

They got up and followed him down a short corrider into another large room, although not quite as large as the first. This one contained shelves filled with books along three walls.

Quays paced back and forth for a few moments waiting for the others to get settled. Of all of his men, only Zangan had stayed with them.

"You are probably wondering why we are so worried about security here," Quays said. "The simple answer is that the work we are doing is so revolutionary that it could change the world."

Even while he talked he continued to pace back and forth.

"I am sure you have all used materia at one time or another in the past, and are aquainted with it's properties and usefulness. On a small scale materia can use the elemental powers of the planet to significant effect, and cause a wide range of changes in a limited locale. What we are trying to do here is take that concept and expand it significantly."

"I am creating a process that concentrates the power of materia to an extent never seen before, never imagined before. Instead of the materia affecting a single object or a small area nearby, the concentrated materia will be able to influence a huge area."

He stopped and looked at them.

"How huge, you might ask," he said, supplying his own question. "There's really no telling at the moment. But the difference in effect could be quite staggering. Imagine using barrier to stop a flood, or casting cure on an entire city."

"Or casting fire on an entire city," Barret suggested.

"Exactly," Quays answered. "In the wrong hands this power could cause worldwide devestation. So you see the need for all the security. If we seem paranoid, it may be for good reason."

"So you _are_ the ones sucking the power out of all the materia orbs in the region," Red stated.

"Yes," Quays replied. "An unfortunate side affect. The process draws it's power from ordinary materia and concentrates it. All ordinary materia loses it's energy in the process. But the end result is something much stronger."

"But you're taking materia energy away from other people without their knowledge, without their permission," Aeris said. "Materia energy they might need."

"Temporarily, yes," Quays replied. "But when our process is perfected we will be replacing it with something infinitely better. There is no other way to do it."

"But materia wasn't meant to be concentrated like that," Aeris continued. "That much power would be unstable. It's dangerous."

Quays looked at her skeptically.

"I assure you all precautions are being taken to make sure the process is safe," he replied. "I really must be getting back to my work now. We are at a critical point in our experimentation and I cannot stay away any longer. Zangan will see to your comfort, and if you have any other questions you may address them to him."

"What about Yuffie?" Reno asked.

"Who is Yuffie?" Quays questioned.

"A young girl," Tifa replied. "She is the daughter of Godo of Wutai. She is a friend of ours. Godo sent her up here to investigate what was happening to the materia, but she disappeared. We found another man that was sent with her dead in a cave not far from here. He appeared to have been killed in hand to hand combat. Do you know anything about this?"

Quays shrugged.

"No, I do not," he said. "My only concern has been my experiments. Zangan, has you seen this girl?"

Zangan shook his head.

"No," he replied. "But there are other groups that know of the experiment and have been trying to steal it. The largest is led by someone named Renada. We have already had a couple of pitched battles against some of his people. It could be that this girl ran afoul of them. If she did, and they find out she knows nothing of value, it is not likely she is still alive."

Quays turned and walked quickly out of the room.

Cloud turned to Zangan

"Where can we find this Renada fellow?"

"We know he is somewhere here on the great glacier, but we do not know his exact location," Zangan replied.

"So we have to start seaching all over again?" Barret commented, sounding none too pleased with the idea.

"If you wish," Zangan said. "But I have a better idea. I already have people looking for him, and it's just a matter of time before we track him down. Why don't you stay here with us for a few days and let my men do the work? Then when we find him, you can come with us to ask Renada all the questions you like."

"That's very kind of you," Cloud responded slowly. "But we'll have to give it a little thought. You don't need to know right this minute, do you?"

"Of course not," Zangan replied. "Take your time and decide when you wish. In the meantime, I have arranged accomodations for you. I will get Danz to show you to your rooms. Due to the sensitive nature of the work going on here, I am afraid that there are some areas of the building that will be off limits to you, but feel free to consider the rest of the fortress your home."

Zangan got up and walked into the hallway for a moment. He came back followed by another man, who gestured for them to follow. They got up and filed out of the room. As Tifa walked by Zangan took her by the arm.

"Stay a moment," he said.

Cloud glanced at them but walked out without a word. The others followed, and in a moment they were alone. Zangan sat back down and offered her a seat beside him.

"It's good to see you again," he said.

"It's great to see you too," she answered with a smile. "I was wondering if I would ever see you again. When meteor destroyed Midgar I was afraid you might have been killed. I asked around afterward but no one had seen you. You don't know how glad it makes me to see you alive."

Zangan smiled.

"I'm afraid I'm too tough to be killed that easily," he replied, almost sadly, she thought. "I heard about your exploits against Shinra and your battle with Sephiroth. It looks like you were right all along. You've made quite a name for yourself. I'm proud of you."

Tifa blushed and shook her head.

"I'm sure the stories are blown way out of proportion," she replied. "The truth is that _you_ were right. Before we parted ways you told me that fighting Shinra using terrorist tactics was dishonorable, but after Nibelheim was destroyed I was so filled with hatred that I would have done anything to get revenge against them."

She turned away and bowed her head.

"Anything," she repeated. "And I am sure you are aware of the results. We blew up those reactors. Many people lost their lives. Innocent people. The truth is when we killed those people we became no better than the company we were fighting. Those acts can never be repented or made right. You saw that then, but I didn't. I do now."

Zangan came up beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Rare is the person who looks back and sees nothing to regret," he said softly. "Your methods may have been questionable but no one can argue with your results. If you hadn't done what you did, how many more people would be suffering even now?"

Tifa shook her head.

"Even the destruction of Shinra doesn't justify what we did," she said. She turned to look at him and managed a wane smile.

"But enough of that. What's done is done and I just have to live with it. How have you been? Were you in Midgar when Meteor struck, and how did you end up here?"

Zangan shrugged.

"Yes I was in Midgar," he replied, and again she heard a tinge of sadness in his voice. "I managed to get out, just barely. After that, well, you know how much of a wanderer I can be. I did a lot of traveling. Mostly in the south. About six months ago I met Quays in Junon. He was working on this project even then and was looking for someone to train a security force. That's really all there is to it."

"And this thing he's doing with the materia, do you think it's a good idea?" she asked.

"I don't know," he replied. "I'm not a scientist. I'm just in charge of security."

He got up.

"I guess I better be getting back to work myself," he said. He extended his hand and helped her out of her seat, then clasped her hand in both of his.

"You don't know how happy I am to see my favorite student again," he said. "From what some of my men, and the bruises they have, tell me, you've been keeping up your training. It's good to see."

"Thanks," she replied. "I know we didn't part on the best of terms, and it was all my fault. I'm sorry."

He held up his hand.

"No need to apoligize. You were young and doing what you thought was right. I don't blame you, and it's all over with now."

He let go of her hand.

"Come on," he said. "I'll take you back to the others."

* * *

"So what do we make of all this?" Cloud asked.

They were gathered togther in a sitting room just off a row of bedrooms that Danz had told them were theirs to use, before he had left them alone.

"Well, let's see," Reno replied. "We find Staniv dead, in the middle of nowhere, killed by someone skilled in hand to hand combat. Then we run into these people who just happen to be skilled in hand to hand combat, who try their damndest to kill us until they find out that one of them is an old friend of Tifa. Doesn't take a genius to figure there must be some connection."

"So you think they killed Staniv?" Cait said.

"And probably Yuffie too," Reno replied. "Unless there's another group of martial arts experts wandering around in this God forsaken place. How likely do you think that is?"

"I don't believe it," Barret spoke up. "I didn't know Zangan myself, but Tifa talked about him like a father. I can't believe he could have done something like that."

"Maybe not then, but people change," Reno replied. "How long has it been since she's seen him?"

"About two and a half years, I guess," Barret said. "But I still don't believe it. There has to be some other explanation."

"Perhaps some of Zangan's men did it without his knowledge," Red suggested.

Reno looked skeptical.

"He's in charge of security," he countered. "If he doesn't know what his own people are doing, I'd say he's not doing a very good job."

"You're being unfair," Vincent said. "No one can keep track of everyone all the time. You have to place some trust in your friends, or coworkers, even if you are head of security."

Reno shrugged.

"You asked for opinions and I gave mine. If you're too thick headed to see it, that's your problem."

"All right," Cloud cut in. "That's enough of that. Reno, you're entitled to your opinion, and I have to admit it makes a lot of sense. But we can't discount the possibility that there may be some other explanation. Unlikely as it may seem, it could be that everything Zangan told us was the truth, and this Renada fellow is the one we need to find."

"At any rate," he continued, "Zangan has offered to let us stay here for a few days. I'm tempted to take him up on the offer. If his men are searching for this mysterious Renada, we won't really be losing any time, and if something is going on here, it'll give us a chance to look into it. Does anyone have any objections?"

"Actually, I think that might be a good idea," Red agreed.

No one else spoke.

Cloud was about to continue when the door opened and Tifa walked in. Cloud turned toward her.

"Good, you're back," he said. "We've decided to stay for a while."

"Great," she replied.

"Yeah," Reno spoke up. "It'll give us a chance to find out what's really going on here."

"What do you mean?" she said.

"Reno thinks Zangan is behind this whole thing," Barret answered. "He thinks he killed Staniv and probably Yuffie too."

Tifa looked at Reno and frowned.

"That's ridiculous," she said.

Reno folded his arms across his chest and looked at her.

"Great minds are never appreciated in their time," he said sullenly.

"Zangan would never do anything like that," she continued emphatically. "I never met a man with higher standards. He is more honorable than anyone I ever met, but I guess that is something you know nothing about."

Reno looked at her darkly.

"Don't talk to me of honor after what you did in Midgar," he shot back.

"You should talk!" Barret interrupted. "At least we were fighting for a cause. What was in it for you when you destroyed sector seven? What did you get out of it, a raise?"

"He was helping to get rid of some people who were trying to destroy our society," Elena suddenly cut in.

"And a fine job you did," Tifa said distainfully.

"Terrorists," Reno said accusingly.

"Murderer," Barret replied.

"ENOUGH!" Cloud said angrily. "We've got enough problems without this bickering. I don't expect you to forget what happened in the past, but fighting like this is just a waste of time. Cut the crap and concentrate on the missison."

He glared at the four of them and they fell silent. But from the looks they gave each other he knew this feud might surface again at any moment. He had been afraid something like this would happen, even though he had wanted to avoid it. He just hoped they would all listen to reason and this wouldn't evolve into open warfare.

"There's something else," Aeris spoke up. She had been sitting quietly since they had entered the room, seeming to ignore the entire conversation. Now she had a troubled look on her face.

"What is it, Aeris?" he asked.

"In Icicle Inn I told you the the planet sensed danger, but I couldn't say what that danger was," she said.

Cloud nodded.

"I still can't say what the danger is, but I can tell you that the source of the disturbance is here."

"Here," Cloud repeated. "You mean, in this fortress?"

"Yes," she replied. "I don't know exactly what is going on, but something is very wrong."

No one spoke for a moment as they all digested this newest bit of information. Reno gazed at her with a look of vindication.

"There you go," he said. "I'm not the only one who thinks something funny is going on here."

Cloud shrugged.

"Let's just see what happens, okay. Anyway, I think I've had my fill of this dicussion for one day, I'm going to go get some sleep."

"Sounds good to me," Cid agreed quickly.

Cloud started to turn but Tifa came up and grabbed his arm. He looked at her.

"I know Zangan wouldn't do something like that," she said, with a pleading look in her eyes. "You believe me, don't you?"

Cloud realized that any hesitation in his response would answer the question for her.

"Of course I do," he replied.

* * *

"I can't believe you actually invited them into this place," Quays said angrily. He and Zangan were alone in Quays' office just outside of the lab. "Why didn't you just kill them when you had the chance?"

"Don't be a fool," Zangan replied evenly. "To kill them would not only have been sensless, but counterproductive."

Quays paced rapidly back and forth as he spoke. He reminded Zangan of nothing so much as a mouse scrambling back and forth trying to escape the claws of a cat.

"Counterproductive? How can you say that? If they find out we've got that girl it'll ruin everything."

"Leave that to me," Zangan replied. "You don't waste resources in your experiments, and I don't waste human resources. You didn't see them fight, you don't know how good they are. No one here, save perhaps myself, is a match for Tifa in combat, and that young man with the sword. No one has successfully dodged that chest blow I gave him in the ten years since I've learned it, but he managed it. The two of them together are worth twenty of the men you have now. Having all of them work for us would make this place impregnable. Wouldn't that be much more useful to us than just killing them off?"

Quays looked at him and frowned, but his anger seemed to diminish.

"That sounds fine, but how are you going to get them to work with us when we've got their friend locked up in the tower?"

"Again, leave that to me," Zangan replied. "The other girl. Aeris, I believe her name was. Was she right, is concentrating the materia dangerous?"

Quays looked surprised. Zangan had never questioned him about the experiment before.

"Leave that to me," he responded with a smile. "Of course there is some danger, but like I told her, we are taking precautions."

He stopped his pacing for a moment.

"Is this girl really as good as you say?" he asked.

Zangan nodded.

"Of anybody I taught," he replied, "she was the best."

Quays looked at him for a moment.

"Anybody?" he said doubtfully.

"Anybody," Zangan reaffirmed.

There was a long pause as they looked carefully at each other. Finally Quays turned away.

"I'm a scientist, not a fighter," he said slowly.

"Your scientific skills are beyond my ability to judge," Zangan replied. "However, it was obvious from the first lesson that you were no fighter."

Quays looked up again angrily.

"You are not helping your cause by insulting me," he said. "But I see your point. They can stay, but you had better keep a close eye on them. If anything goes wrong, of if they find out something they shouldn't, I expect you to take care of them. Do we understand each other?"

Zangan nodded.

"I understand," he replied. "Probably better than you know."


	7. Acky Breaky Heart

CHAPTER VII

ACKY BREAKY HEART

Rude walked into the common room and sat down to have breakfast. Vincent, Cid, Cait, Red and Elena were already there. None of the others were around.

Elena looked at him as he sat down beside her.

"Reno still sleeping, I suppose?" he said.

"Actually no," she replied. "He was up early this morning. Said he wanted to take a look around. I haven't seen him since."

"Huh," Rude said. They both knew this was not typical Reno behavior.

"I wouldn't mind taking a stroll myself," Vincent said. "This place has some very interesting architecture."

"Yeah, dark and dreary, just how you like it," Cid commented.

"Well, it's certainly better than wandering around in a freezing wilderness," Elena said.

"Yeah," Cait added. "Compared to what we were doing, this is like a vacation."

"Well, it's no Costa del Sol," Cid remarked, "but at least the food is good."

"Is that all you think about?" Elena asked.

"That and aircraft," Vincent answered.

Cid just nodded.

"It is nice here," Red said. "But I suggest you don't get too comfortable. Things could change in a hurry."

"Yeah, especially when we find out that Zangan knows all about what happened to Yuffie and Staniv," Elena said.

"So you agree with Reno?" Cid said.

"Of course," she replied. "Don't you?"

Cid shrugged.

"To tell you the truth, I kind of think he's guilty myself," he admited.

"Hey, let's take a poll," Elena responded. She stood up. "Let's see what the politcal landscape is like. Vincent?"

She turned to look at him.

"Much as I hate to condemn anyone with so little evidence, but my gut feeling is that he is guilty."

"Red," she said.

"I cannot say," he replied. "There is not enough evidence."

"Cop out," she said and looked at Cait.

Cait held out his arms and looked up.

"It is written in the stars," he replied. "Guilty."

"Rude," she said, turning to the last one. She couldn't help but smile. Not one not guilty.

"Not guilty," Rude said.

"What?" she said.

"Not guilty," he repeated.

"How can you say that?" she questioned.

Rude shrugged but said nothing more.

Elena had not expected that. Still, it had turned out better than she thought.

"That's four to one for guilty, with one gutless abstainment," she said, glancing at Red, who ignored her jab.

"But the others aren't here," Vincent reminded her.

"Yeah, and you know Tifa and Barret would vote not guilty," Cait added. "And Cloud said himself that he trusted Zangan."

"Yeah, but I think he just said that to make Tifa feel better," Elena responded. "I think he would vote guilty."

"You don't know that for sure," Red said.

"We all know how Reno would vote, but what about Aeris?" Cait said.

"I'm sure Miss goody two shoes would vote not guilty," Elena responded scornfully.

"Elena," Vincent said evenly. "That was uncalled for."

She turned to look at him. She opened her mouth and for a moment Rude was sure she was going to snap at him. But then she shut it. The look Vicent was giving her was not angry, but his gaze was so penetrating that it made everyone in the room uncomfortable. Rude had to turn away, even though Vincent was not even looking at him. How does he do that, he wondered.

"I'm sorry," Elena said.

There was an awkward silence.

"Well, that was fun," Cid finally said. "Looks like it broke about even. Not that it matters anyhow. Even though I might think he's guilty, that doesn't make it so. I'm afraid we just don't have enough evidence to prove it."

Elena sat back down slowly.

"Not yet we don't," she said softly.

* * *

Zangan led Tifa into a large gym. Four of his men were practicing nearby. They bowed as Zangan entered and sat down to watch the master. Tifa wasn't sure she wanted an audience.

"It's been a while since I've done this," she said, as they walked out onto the mat.

"Don't try to lull me into a false sense of security," he replied with a smile.

They bowed to one another and Zangan assumed the ready position.

"Begin," he said.

He waited until he was sure she was ready, then sprang forward and delivered a flurry of blows, but she fended them off easily. He backed off for a moment and smiled again.

"I see you remember the basics," he said. "Now let's try something a little more complicated."

He came at her again, much more swiftly. She backed off slowly, waiting for a chance to counterattack, but he never seemed to leave any opportunity to do so. She turned to the left to block a kick, but his other leg shot out at what seemed like an impossible angle, and hit her on the right side, knocking her to the ground.

He reached down and helped her up.

"Concentrate," he said.

She nodded and he attacked again. In the next ten minutes she found herself down on the mat three more times.

He reached out a hand to help her up once again.

"You seem distracted," he said. "Is there something on your mind?"

Tifa shook her head.

"No," she replied. "I guess I just have to warm up."

Just then the door to the gym opened to their right and Cloud stepped in

Tifa smiled.

Aeris followed a moment later.

"Remember what I taught you," Zangan continued. "You have to let it..."

Tifa leaped in the air and kicked visciously at Zangan's head. He blocked the blow, but as she came down she immediately dropped to the ground and swept Zangan's legs out from under him. He fell to the ground and she sprang up to stand over him.

There was a murmer from the observers.

Zangan looked at her in surprise. He glanced over at the newcomers and burst out laughing.

"Where did that come from?" he asked. "Now that's more like the girl I taught."

Tifa extended a hand and helped him up. She saw Cloud and Aeris sit down on the mat by the entrance. Cloud gave he a thumbs up. As he did so another man entered the room.

He walked over to Zangan and bowed.

"Honored one," he said. "You presense if required in the laboratory immediately."

Zangan nodded.

"Very well," he said.

He turned to Tifa.

"I'm afaid we'll have to cut this a little short. Duty calls."

He turned to the men who had been watching.

"Greco," he said.

One of the men stood up. Tifa recognized him as the man who had spoken to them at the begining of the battle on their first day here.

"Greco is my second in command," Zangan said, turning to Tifa. "If you wish you can continue practicing with him. Just try not to hurt him."

With that Zangan turned and swiftly left the room.

Greco walked over to her and folded his arms across his chest.

"You think you're ready?" he asked.

"I think I've had enough for one day," Tifa replied.

"What's the matter, afraid I'll hurt you?" he challanged. "You know he took it easy on you."

She turned to look at him.

"If you're trying to make me angry enough to fight, it worked," she replied. "Let's see what you've got."

They faced each other on the mat. Tifa bowed, but Greco barely dipped his head in response. Then he lauched himself at her.

He was nearly twice her size, and used his superior strength to try to overpower her. She realized immediately that he was too strong to stand toe to toe with and dodged out of his way. She launched a kick as he went by but he avoided it. He came at her half a dozen times, but each time she spun out of the way.

"What is this," he said scornfully, "a fight, or a dancing lesson?"

She said nothing as he came at her again. She dodged one more time and struck at his side. But even as she did so her foot slipped on the mat, and she fell down on one knee.

Immediately Greco was on top of her. He lauched a series of brutal kicks at her head. She fended off the first three, but the fourth one got by her guard and stuck her in the face. With a cry she fell to the ground.

Although she did not see, Cloud suddenly stood up.

Greco stood over her triumphantly.

She looked up at him, in obvious pain. A trickle of blood ran from her nose.

"What's the matter," he said. "Can't take a little pain? What are you going to do now. Cry?"

She wiped the blood from her nose with her forearm and looked at him. Faster than he thought humanly possible she suddenly sprang up. She lauched a flurry of punches so quickly that he barely had time to bring his arms up, much less defend himself. She flipped in the air and struck him in the chin with a kick, then dropped down and swept his legs out from under him. He went down with a crash. She jumped over him, then picked him up and dropped him on his back. She hit him with an uppercut and picked him up again. This time she brought him down so hard it made Aeris gasp. He was no longer fighting, but just lay on the ground looking at her. She stood above him and brought her fist back, concentrating all her power in it.

"Tifa!" Cloud shouted.

She looked over at him for a moment, then down at Greco, who was looking at her helplessly. For a moment more she stood over him. Then she dropped her fist, turned, and walked out of the room without a word.

* * *

Zangan entered the lab. He saw three of his security men gathered around a man in a lab coat sitting in a chair. He walked over to them.

"What's the trouble?"

One of his men stepped forward.

"We caught this man in an unauthorized area," he said. "He had set one of the instruments to overload when we turned it on."

Zangan turned to look at the man.

"Who are you working for?" he asked.

The man looked at Zangan and shook his head.

"Why should I tell you anything," he said. "You're just going to kill me anyway."

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you decided on sabotage," Zangan replied.

"Somebody has to stop you," the man replied bitterly. "And it's just a matter of time before we do. There are plenty more like me out there."

"If they are all as incompetent as you then we have nothing to worry about," Zangan replied. "Things will go much easier for you if you tell us what you know."

The man looked down at the floor and did not reply.

The door to the lab opened and Quays came in. He had a pistol strapped to his hip.

"I heard that you caught a spy," he said, walking over to Zangan. He looked at the man in the lab coat. "Is this him?"

"Yes," Zangan replied.

Quays stood in front of the man.

"So what have you got to say for yourself, Mortice?"

The man looked up at Quays with hatred in his eyes.

"You're a madman," he said angrily. "This project is insane, and can only lead to the destruction of us all. It has to be stopped. And it will be."

Quays laughed.

"Stopped! By who? You? You couldn't even perform a simple act of sabotage. Who are you working for?"

Mortice stared straight ahead and did not answer.

Quays stood in front of him for a moment. Then he suddenly kicked Mortice in the face. The chair he was sitting on rocked back and would have fallen had not one of the men standing next to it grabbed it to steady it.

Quays looked at Mortice closely.

"We can make this easy or we can make this difficult," he said calmly. "Who are you working for?"

"Renanda," Mortice said.

"Ah hah, now we're getting somewhere," Quays replied. "And just where is Renada?"

"I don't know," the man replied. "I never actually met him. I just spoke to one of his agents before we came here."

"I see," Quays said knowingly. "And these other people you spoke about who are going to stop us. Who are they?"

"I don't know," Mortice said.

Quays pulled out his gun and aimed it at Mortice's forehead.

"Don't take me for a fool," he said grimly.

"I swear, I don't know," Mortice replied nervously. "I know there were some others, but they didn't tell me who they were."

"I'm not sure I believe you," Quays replied. "And that's not good for you. Are you sure you don't know anything else? Last chance."

"I've told you everything," Mortice said quickly. "They told me there were others, but they didn't tell me who just in case I got caught. I swear that's all I know!"

Quays did not move for a long time. Then he smiled slowly and lowered the gun.

"I believe you," he said. He turned away and walked toward the exit. But when he got to the door he stopped.

"Of course, if you don't know anything else, then you are not much use to us anymore, are you?"

He turned and fired. The bullet struck Mortice in the center of his forehead. He slumped down in the chair.

Zangan looked at him.

"Was that really necessary?"

"I'm just making your job easier," Quays replied. "Any other potential saboteurs might think twice before they try anything now."

He started to leave but then turned back to look at Zangan once more.

"And by the way, I may not be much of a fighter, but I'm a very good shot."

* * *

Reno looked up to see Tifa walking down the hall toward him. She strode past without a word, but he could see a streak of blood on one of her arms.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, following her.

"Fine," she said without looking back or slowing down.

He almost had to run to keep up with her.

"Hey, slow down," he said.

"Leave me alone."

"I just wanted to say that there are no hard feelings," he persisted. "I mean, about what happened in Midgar. I'm willing to let bygones be bygones. I know it wasn't your fault. You were led on by the others."

She did not respond, just kept on walking as if she hadn't even heard him.

He grabbed hold of her arm.

"C'mon," he said, "I just want to be friends."

She turned suddenly, grabbed his arm and twisted it around behind his back. With a cry of pain he suddenly found himself slammed against the wall with her behind him.

"I don't want to be friends with you," she snarled. "As far as I'm concerned you're a coward and a murderer. You killed my friends and enjoyed it. I'm not about to forget that. And as for my being led on by the others, that's nonsense. I knew exactly what I was doing, and I willingly participated. I'm as much to blame for killing those people as if I had pressed the button myself, and if you touch me again, I'll kill you too!"

She pushed him savagely away. He fell to the floor as she walked on, not looking back. He looked at her, his face turning dark with rage.

"Stuck up bitch," he muttered.

He got up, rubbed his arm slowly, then turned and walked away in the opposite direction.

* * *

That evening Cloud beckoned Tifa over as she came into the common room for dinner.

"Are you all right now?" he asked as she sat down beside him.

"Yeah," she replied, smiling slightly. "I don't know what got into me. I could have killed that guy."

"I was tempted to myself," Cloud said. "He didn't hurt you too badly, did he?"

"No, I'm fine," she answered. She looked across the room. She could see Greco sitting at another table. She thought one of his eyes was blackened.

She saw Reno sitting at the far end of the table beside Rude. He studiously ignored her.

"I'm afraid I'm not making very many friends," she said softly.

Cloud grinned.

"Well, that's not really what we're here for, is it?" he said.

For a while they were both silent as they ate their fill.

Barret appeared and sat down on the other side of Tifa.

"I heard you kicked some guys ass," he said. "Sorry I missed it. What happened?"

Tifa shook her head.

"To tell you the truth, it isn't really something I want to talk about."

"Suit yourself," he replied. "But when the others ask me, I'm going to have to tell them something. If you don't tell me what happened I'll just have to make up my own story."

"Great," she said. "You'll probably have me fighting off ten of them."

"Blindfolded," he agreed.

"With both hands tied behind your back," Cloud added.

"Cut it out," she said, but couldn't help smiling.

Barret grabbed a plate and began to fill it.

"So have you heard if they've made any progress on the search for this Renanda person?" he asked.

"No, I haven't," Cloud replied. He looked at Tifa. "Has Zangan said anything to you?"

She shook her head.

"No, but I'll ask him the next time I see him."

"Good," Cloud said. "Much as I enjoy being able to relax, we do have a mission to accomplish. I don't feel right just sitting here knowing that it still needs to be completed."

"What more can you do?" Tifa asked. "Zangan's men are looking for Renanda. I'm sure they have a much better chance of finding him than we do."

"I know," Cloud said quickly. "I just don't feel right sitting here doing nothing."

"What about this experiment," Barret said. "Do you think we should be looking more into that?"

"What do you mean?" Tifa asked.

"Aeris said it was dangerous," he responded. "I know she's no scientist and can be a little ditzy at times, but she usually has pretty good instincts about that sort of thing. And she did say the danger was inside the fortress. Do you think they really know what they are doing?"

"I don't know," Cloud replied. "And no offense to Zangan, but I'm not sure I trust this Quays fellow. It seems like he's trying too hard to hide something."

"Scientists are always worried about other people stealing their ideas," Tifa said defensively. "I'm sure Zangan wouldn't work for him if he wasn't honest."

"Maybe he has an agenda that even Zangan doesn't know about," Cloud said thoughtfully.

Tifa had no response to that. Just how much did Zangan know about what Quays was doing? Would Zangan even be able to understand if Quays explained it to him, or to any of them? That would be another thing she would have to ask him when she saw him.

Even as she thought this Zangan strode into the room. He looked around a minute until his eyes fell on her. He came over quickly.

"Mind if we have a little talk?" he said as he came up.

"Not at all," she responded. "In fact, I have a few things I wanted to ask you."

"C'mon," he said. "Let's take a little walk then."

She got up and followed him out of the room.

Cloud watched them disappear out the door.

"I was talking to the others," Barret said next to him. "Almost all of them think something's not right here."

"Even if that's true," Cloud said, "I don't think we're going to be able to convince Tifa."

He got up and walked out of the common room. When he reached the hall he looked around, but saw no sign of Tifa or Zangan. He walked down the hallway, not really paying much attention to where he was going.

He was pretty sure Quays was up to something. The real question was whether Zangan had any knowledge of it or not. He wondered how far Tifa would go in her loyalty to her old friend. What would she say if they somehow found proof that he was connected to Staniv's death. Would she still try to justify his actions? Would she try to deny it? Or would she accept it? He hoped she would listen to reason, but what if she didn't? What would she do if forced to choose between her old friend and her new?

Still, it probably wouldn't even come to that. It was quite possible that Zangan was perfectly innocent. It might even be that everything they had been told was the truth. But Cloud thought it much more likely that Quays had sent out some of his men to kill without Zangan's knowledge. If that were true, and they told Zangan, how would he react?

Cloud shook his head. The possibilites were too complicated to worry about. First find the proof, he thought, then worry about the consequences.

He found himself at the end of a corridor beside an open door leading out into the courtyard. A chill breeze blew in, but he found it refreshing. He stepped out into the courtyard and looked around.

The sky was just darkening into deep twilight, and was half obscured by clouds. He could see a few stars glinting in the spaces between. The lights in the windows of the tower to his right glowed warmly in the deepening darkness. Only one window was dark, a small one at the very top of the tower.

"Cloud."

He turned to see a marble fountain on one side of the courtyard. The water was not running in it now. Aeris sat on the edge of it, her eyes glinting in the darkness.

* * *

Quays sat alone in the basement lab while multicolored lights played around him. He studied the instruments, then smiled to himself. The readings indicated all was ready for the next step.

He got up and walked over to the glass enclosed chamber that held the materia. He stood there for a few moments staring inside. The materia blazed with light, brightening the room with flashes of color, much brighter than they had been just yesterday. He couldn't help but stop to admire it. Amazing how such power could be so beautiful as well.

Finally, however, it was time to do more than just admire it, he thought. It was time for him to awaken that power.

He walked over to the entrance of the chamber, opened it, and slowly stepped inside.

The moment he stepped in the room he could feel the energy washing over him, even before he touched the materia. He walked over to it, not able to turn away, as if drawn by a magnet. He stood and stared into it. The colors swirled mesmerizingly, almost like a living thing.

Slowly he reached out his hands and laid them on it. The materia was warm and he felt a slight tingling sensation run throughout his body. The colors swirled excitedly around the areas he put his hands, but then calmed. He bowed his head and began to concentrate.

The materia had been flashing in some sort of natural rhythm. The colors shifting every few seconds. But now the rhythm suddenly sped up, and the lights flashed even more brightly. The colors began to blend and fade into one another, until slowly one color predominated. Quays smiled in satisfaction as the orb became a solid emerald green.

Now the materia flashed brighter still and a green mist formed in the chamber. The room grew very hot, and Quays felt himself starting to sweat, though he still did not move, for along with the heat he felt power flowing though his body, power like he had never felt before.

The mist grew around him until it filled the entire lab. Now he could see nothing but blazing green light surrounding him. The power continued to flow into him, and he let it, feeling almost drunk on it, until it filled his entire being so strongly that he thought he would explode.

Then he realased. There was a crack as if the very air had been rent asunder. The ultima drove down toward the center of the planet, and the earth convulsed.

* * *

Zangan led Tifa to his office on the third floor of the tower. He offered her a seat once inside, but stood himself.

"I understand Greco was a little rough with you," he said.

"You asked me not to hurt him," she replied. "I didn't listen."

He smiled.

"You taught him not to be so arrogant," he responded. "It was a lesson he needed to learn."

Tifa shrugged.

"So what do you think of our little organization?" he asked.

Tifa did not answer for a moment.

"It reminds me of when I was training with you," she replied.

Zangan grinned.

"We did have a good time, didn't we?" he said slowly. The grin faded away, replaced by the sad look she had seen once or twice before.

"I never realized how much I missed you until I saw you again," he said.

"I'm sorry," she found herself saying.

"You shouldn't be," he replied quickly.

"But I am," she continued. "It was my fault that we drifted apart. I wanted so much to hurt Shinra that when you didn't agree with me I didn't want to have anything to do with you. I was such a jerk."

Zangan chuckled.

"What?" she said, looking at him.

"You've always been your harshest critic," he replied. "Don't be so down on yourself. I've found that the one's that are most driven are also the one's that are the most umcompromising. But that is what makes you the best. After all, it all worked out in the end, now didn't it?"

"I don't know," she said slowly.

"C'mon, of course it did," he prompted. "Shinra is gone, as it should be, and now we are reunited. I'd say that worked out pretty well."

Tifa nodded but said nothing.

Zangan looked at her for a long time before he spoke again.

"I'd like you to join us," he said.

"Huh?"

"The reason I asked you here tonight was to ask you to join us," he repeated.

She looked at him in surprise. That was a request she certainly had not been expecting. She did not speak for some time.

"I don't know what to say," she said finally.

"Yes?" he suggested.

"This may seem kind of sudden, but I've been thinking about it since the first time I saw you again," he continued. "Tifa, you were my best student, it would be an honor to have you working with me again."

Tifa blushed.

"Besides, I'm not getting any younger. I can feel my skills deteriorating. No, don't try to deny it," he said when he saw the look on her face. "It won't be much longer before I won't be able to do this any more. I can't think of anyone I would be more happy to see take my place."

Tifa felt overwhelmed.

"This is so sudden," was all she could say.

"I understand," he said immediately. "You don't have to answer right away. Take all the time you want to think about it."

She was silent for a moment.

"What about the others?" she asked.

"I saw them fight," he replied. "Any, or all, who wish to join as well would be welcome."

"You make it very tempting," she said.

"So what's holding you back?"

"I'm not sure," she replied slowly. "How much do you know about this experiment Quays is performing?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Some of the others think that what Quays is doing is dangerous, and to tell you the truth, I'm not sure I disagree with them."

"What he is doing is _very_ dangerous," Zangan agreed. "But I'm keeping a close eye on him. You don't have to concern yourself with it."

"That's not a very satisfying answer," she said.

"I'm afraid that's all I can tell you at the moment," he said. "You'll just have to trust..."

Suddenly the ground rocked beneath them.

* * *

"What are you doing out here?" Cloud asked, coming over to sit down beside her. "Aren't you cold?"

Aeris shook her head.

"Sometimes I get claustrophobic when I spend too much time indoors. It seems like ages since I felt fresh air on my face."

Aeris looked up. The clouds almost filled the sky. She could see a single star glinting above.

"You know," she said suddenly, "we've visitied so many interesting places, yet it always seemed we never got to enjoy any of them. Costa del Sol, the Gold Saucer, even Icicle Inn. Wherever we were we always seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere else. I think I would have enjoyed snowboarding if we had gotten more of a chance to do it. Do you think after all this is over we could go back to Icicle Inn to do some more, this time just for fun?"

"I suppose," Cloud said, then, "You mean, just the two of us?"

Aeris looked at him for a moment before she answered.

"And...anyone else who might want to come," she said slowly.

"Yeah," he responded. "That sounds like it would be good. Would be a lot of fun, I mean. I'm sure everyone would enjoy it. Well, maybe not everyone," he finished, thinking about Cait's trials on the slopes. And Tifa had told him that Barret had not fared much better.

The inside of the fountain was covered with a sheet of ice. Cloud picked up a pebble and skittered it across the smooth surface. None of that would happen until they were finished here.

"Have you felt anymore danger?" he asked, coming back to reality.

"It hasn't gotten any worse, it that's what you mean," she replied. "But it doesn't go away. I've felt it since the moment we set foot in this place."

"Do you think it has something to do with Quays' experiment?"

"I have no proof of that, but that's my feeling," she replied. "What else could it be?"

Cloud made no reply. What else could it be indeed? Exactly what was Quays doing down there in his lab, and more to they point, why, he suddenly thought, hadn't he tried to find out?

Cloud shook his head as he realized the truth. He hadn't tried to find out because he was afraid. He was afraid the truth would implicate Zangan, and he was afraid of what that would do to Tifa.

"What's wrong?" Aeris asked, seeing the troubled look on his face.

"I'm worried that Zangan is involved in all this. Tifa thinks of him as a father. If he had something to do with Staniv's death, she'll be devestated."

Aeris looked at him for a moment.

"So you're worried about Tifa?" she said evenly.

"Yeah, sort of," he replied. "Aren't you?"

Aeris thought about it for a moment.

"Some, but she's a big girl. Even if Zangan is involved, I'm sure she can handle it."

Cloud looked at the ground.

"I hope so, but..."

Suddenly the entire courtyard shook around them. Aeris cried out as if she had been stabbed and fell to the ground.

"Aeris!" he said.

He slid off his seat and knelt down beside her. The ground still rocked for a moment with aftershocks, but then all grew still.

"Aeris, are you okay?"

She did not move. He reached down and lifted her head, turning it so he could see her face. Her eyes were open, and she seemed concious, but she looked at him as if she did not recognize him.

"Aeris, what happened?"

She stared into space for a moment more, then shook her head and her vision seemed to clear. She looked at him and he saw fear on her face.

"Oh Cloud," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "The planet. The pain. Oh, it was horrible."

"Easy, easy, it's all over now," he said, trying to sooth her. He could feel her heart beating rapidly against his chest. What could have scared her like that? He wanted to blurt out questions, but he knew it would do no good until she calmed down. For a long time she sat there silently in his arms.

Finally she looked up at him, and her eyes were clear.

"What happened?" he said softly.

"I don't really know," she replied. "Something hurt the planet. Hurt it like I've never felt before. The planet was in agony. Didn't you hear it scream?"

Cloud shrugged.

"I don't know. I felt something, but it just might have been an effect of the earthquake. I take it that was no ordinary earthquake."

Aeris shook her head.

"No," she said. "Cloud, I'm scared. Something is very very wrong. It was almost as if someone were trying to kill the planet."

They sat in silence for a few moments longer. Cloud did not understand what was going on, but he did not doubt what Aeris was telling him. One thing was for sure, he said to himself, he was going to get to the bottem of this.

He looked at Aeris again.

"Are you all right now?"

She returned his gaze and nodded, the trace of a smile appearing on her lips for the first time. He thought it amazing how much it brightened her face. She was still in his arms, her face inches from his, her deep green eyes staring at him. He thought they had never looked so vunerable.

"Cloud," she said softly.

"Umm."

She looked at him for a moment more, then bowed her head and rested it against his chest. He slowly helped her stand, but she stumbled slighty as she got to her feet.

"C'mon," he said, leading her back to the door. "Let's get you inside."

* * *

"What the hell was that?" Zangan questioned.

The room still shivered around them as he spoke.

"Some kind of earthquake?" Tifa suggested dubiously.

Zangan walked over to a glass framed door across the room from Tifa. He opened it up and stepped out onto a small balcony, looking around.

Tifa came up behind him. The balcony overlooked the courtyard below. It was deep twilight and the courtyard was filled with dark shadows. But even in the dim light she could see Cloud next to a fountain below her, with Aeris in his arms.

She stood stone still as her face went pale. Zangan looked at her, then out into the courtyard. Then back at her again, understanding dawning on his face.

"Tifa," he said softly.

She did not respond. She took a slow step back and her hands came up to her mouth.

"Tifa," he said again and reached toward her.

As his hand made contact she jerked violently away, then turned and ran from the room.

Zangans hands dropped to his sides.

"Tifa," he said yet again.

* * *

Tifa stopped running when she reached the hallway. She walked quickly down the hall, trying with all her strength to control the anguish in her heart. She kept telling herself to be strong, but he legs wobbled as she walked.

She went as quickly as she could toward her bedroom, praying that she wouldn't encounter anyone. But even as she reached the last corridor before her room who should come around the corner but Reno and Rude.

Rude saw the look on her face and was instantly filled with concern.

"Tifa, what's wrong?" he said, starting over to her.

But even as he did so Reno grabbed him and pulled him back.

"Leave her alone," he said as she walked by.

"Let go," Rude said, trying to break free. "Tifa, are you all right?"

"Just trust me!" Reno said, dragging him back. "I've seen that look before!"

She entered her room and closed the door behind her. She took a deep breath and walked over to her bed. Although she strove mightily to prevent it, she felt the tears begin to roll slowly down her cheeks. She sank softly down onto the bed, and, giving in to the inevitable, began to sob uncontrollably into her pillow.

* * *

Zangan appeared suddenly as Cloud helped Aeris back inside. He had an odd look on his face. He came toward them but stopped when he saw how pale Aeris was.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

Aeris nodded.

"What was that?" Cloud asked.

"What was what?" Zangan responded.

"It felt like an earthquake," Cloud said. "But there was more to it. Aeris says it hurt the planet. She felt it's agony and heard it scream."

"You heard it scream?" he said with a puzzled look on his face.

"She's an Ancient," Cloud explained. "She can feel the planet, talk to it."

Zangan nodded.

"She was hurt," he said thoughtfully. "So that explains it."

"Explains what?" Cloud asked.

"Never mind," Zangan responded. "I don't know what that was. As far as I know, it was just an earthquake. We've felt them a few times in the past, but none that were that strong."

Cloud looked at him, and it was obvious that he was not satified with that explanation.

"C'mon Aeris," he said. "Let's get you up to your room so you can get some rest."

They walked past Zangan. Cloud turned to look back at him for a moment, but Zangan just seemed to be staring at nothing in particular, apparently lost in thought.

He turned back to Aeris. Whatever was going on, he was going to find out about it, no matter the consequences. He had been sitting around too long, he thought. The vacation was over.


	8. Baby It's Cold Outside

CHAPTER VIII

BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE

Late the next morning Elena was sitting in the common room when Reno and Rude walked in.

"Where have you two been lately," she questioned as they sat down beside her. "I haven't seen either one of you around much. What are you up to?"

"We've been doing a little exploring," Reno replied. "Trying to find out how much of this place we can consider 'home', as Zangan put it, and more to the point, just what areas are off limits."

"So what did you find out?"

"The entire lower level of the fortress is out of bounds," he replied. "That includes anything below ground level. I'm assuming it's one level but I haven't been down there so there really is no saying. I know Quays' lab is down there, so that's not really surprising."

Elena nodded.

"The rest of the building is ours to wander through as we wish except for one place," he continued.

"And where would that be?" she questioned.

"The top of the tower," he replied.

Elena looked thoughtful.

"Maybe some of the equipment for the experiment has to be above the ground," she suggested.

"Maybe," Reno replied. "But Quays never goes up there. At least, I haven't seen him, and Rude and I have been watching. None of the scientists go up there, only Zangan and his men."

Elena shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe what's up there is already set up and doesn't need looking after."

Reno looked at her skeptically.

"I admit it seems unlikely," she said. "I'm just trying to cover all bases."

"Well, think about this then," Reno said. "I was watching the guard yesterday near dinnertime and one of Zangan's men went up there with a covered plate. He came down a minute later without it. What does that tell you?"

Elena raised an eyebrow.

"That's very interesting," she said.

"Indeed it is," Reno responded. "I think it's high time we took a little peek up there to see just what is going on."

"But how are you going to get past the guard?" she asked.

Reno put his arm around her.

"That's where you come in," he said with a sly grin.

* * *

Cloud gathered everyone in his bedroom. They were all there except Tifa and the Turks. He had seen the Turks earlier, but they were nowhere to be found now. He hadn't seen Tifa all day.

He told them what had happened to Aeris the night before and his determination to get to the bottem of it.

"So what are you proposing? That we just barge into the lab demanding to know what's going on?" Barret asked, looking as if the idea would suit him.

"Nothing quite that bold," Cloud replied. "Zangan has too many men for us to openly challenge them. We're going to have to find a way to get down in the lab without Quays' knowledge."

"That's a tall order," Cid observed. "Zangan's men are watching the lab like hawks."

"I know," Cloud replied. "That's why I called you all together. Does anybody have any suggestions?"

"There's only one or two guards at the entrance to the lab at any given time," Barret said, obviously still spoiling for a fight. "Together we could easily overpower them. Then we could get down into the lab, find out what's going on, and get out of here before Zangan has time to gather his forces."

Cloud looked at him dubiously.

"If nothing else Zangan's men are well trained. I don't think we could get out before they overpowered us. Besides, what if we fight our way into the lab and find nothing out of the ordinary? Even if we know something is going on down there, that doesn't mean we'll recognize it if we see it. Then we've started a war for nothing."

Barret didn't seem too thrilled with Cloud's reply. He looked at the others, but none of them came to the defense of his idea. He grumbled under his breath but said nothing more.

"So I take it you think sneaking in would be a better choice?" Red asked.

"At this point, yes," Cloud replied.

"But how?" Vincent said.

"Maybe some kind of diversion," Cait mused.

"It would have to be something big," Cloud answered. "Zangan trained these men well. It won't be easy to fool them."

"Vincent has a knack for getting around unnoticed," Cid suggested, looking at his friend. "Maybe he can get in the lab."

Vincent shrugged.

"It only seems that way because people are normally not very attentative to what's going on around them. It would be more difficult to get past someone who is actively on guard. Nevertheless, I will attempt it if you wish."

"We'll certainly take that into consideration," Cloud said.

"Where are the Turks?" Aeris questioned. "It seems to me this would be something more in their line of expertise."

"I don't know," Cloud said. He hadn't thought about that, but he realized she was probably right. They should at least have some input.

"I haven't seen them in a while," he finished.

"Another possiblity would be to get someone else to go down in the lab to look around for us," Red said.

Cloud looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"What do you mean, someone else? Who else is there?"

"Zangan's men are free to go into the lab whenever they want," Red said.

"You want to get one of Zangan's men to look around the lab for us?" Barret questioned in surprise. "How would you do that?"

"Or Zangan himself," Red continued. "We all know that Zangan and Tifa are close, and have been worried about his influence on her, but what about her influence on him? If they are that close, is it unreasonable for her to ask him to take her down there to have a look around? Surely he trusts her, and wouldn't think she's going to steal any of Quays' secrets. And if he balks, wouldn't that suggest to her that he's hiding something?"

Everyone was silent for a moment. Cloud quickly realized that this was the best idea yet.

"Good idea, Red. We'll just have to..."

The door opened and Tifa walked in.

They all turned to look at her.

Cloud's mouth dropped open. The others all looked on in shocked surprise.

She was dressed all in black, with the emblem of a red fist on her shirt just above her left breast.

"What the hell is this?" Barret was the first to speak.

She looked at them for a moment without speaking.

"I've joined Zangan's men," she said unemotionally.

"What?" Cloud said.

"No way," Cid exclaimed at the same time.

"What are you talking about?" Cait said a moment later.

"Zangan asked to join him," she stated. "I told him I would. I just thought you all should know."

Her voice hesitated just briefly on the last sentence.

"Tifa, have you lost your mind?" Cloud blurted out.

"No I haven't lost my mind," she retorted with a touch of anger. "I know exactly what I am doing. I finally realized that it was a mistake to have left Zangan in the first place. I was young and foolish then, but I've grown up. I know what I want to do."

"Tifa, you can't," was all Cloud could think of to say.

"Why not?" she said. "All this time wandering around with you, I've been chasing something that doesn't exist. I don't want to do that anymore. I've made my choice."

"But you can't stay here," Cloud argued. "It's dangerous. They're up to something, I know it. They've endangered the planet somehow. Aeris felt it."

"Aeris," Tifa said harshly. "Aeris and her feelings. It all comes back to that, doesn't it? We're supposed to trust her feelings over Zangan's word."

She opened her mouth again, but then shut it. She looked over at Aeris, who did not speak, but stood there looking sadly at her.

"It doesn't matter," she said softly. "I've made my choice."

With that she turned and walked out of the room.

The others sat in silence for a long time, looking uncomfortably at one another.

Barret slammed his fist on a nearby table.

"Damn!" he said bitterly.

Cloud looked at the others, speechless. Of all the things to happen to them this was something he never would have expected. Even with Zangan's influence, Tifa was the one person he would have though would remain loyal to him no matter what. He just couldn't believe what was happening, and kept trying to think of some other explanation. What could have happened to do this to her? No matter how he thought about it, he just couldn't bring himself to believe that she would do this to them, or more specifically, he suddenly thought, to him.

"Well, I guess that pretty much kills Red's plan to have her talk to Zangan for us," Cid said.

* * *

"Do I have to wear this?" Elena said petulantly.

"Of course," Reno replied. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you how much a woman in a short skirt catches a man's eye."

"I know, but this is damned uncomfortable," she said, tugging at the bottem of the mini skirt.

"Leave it alone," Reno admonished. "You look just perfect."

Elena shook her head. She would have been much more comfortable in her blue suit.

"Where did you get this outfit anyway?" she questioned. "It looks like something Tifa would wear."

"It is," Reno replied. "I got it out of her room."

"What!" Elena exclaimed. "She'll kill you."

"Believe me, she's already threatened to do that," Reno replied matter of factly. "Don't worry, we'll get it back to her before she even realizes it's missing."

Elena shook her head.

"I don't know how she can wear this, I feel practically naked."

Reno glanced at her slyly.

"Now that you mention it, that would really attract a man's eye."

"Don't even think it," she said menacingly, "or Tifa might have to wait in line."

"I suppose that would be a little too over the top," Reno agreed reluctantly.

They reached the end of the hallway and stopped.

"Okay," Reno whispered. "He's right around the corner. Wait a few minutes for us to get in postion. And remember, the more he sees, the better the chance of our succeeding."

"I know what I'm supposed to do," she responded testily. "You just better hope he's not gay."

Reno shook his head and walked back down the hallway, Rude close behind.

"What if he is gay?" Rude asked.

Reno turned to look at him.

"Then I guess you'll have to put on that outfit," he replied.

Rude looked at Reno for a moment.

"Very funny," he replied. He tried to get a look at Reno's face to see if he was smiling. He was kidding, wasn't he?

It took them a few minutes to circle around until they reached the entrance to the tower again, this time from a different direction. Reno took a quick peek around the corner and saw the guard standing at the bottem of the steps. From where he stood he could see the hallway from which Elena would emerge. He motioned for Rude to be silent and waited.

For a long time nothing happened, or at least it seemed like a long time to Reno. He was just about to turn to ask Rude if he thought something had gone wrong when she appeared.

She looked toward the guard and smiled for a moment, then walked slowly across the room. Reno watched her carefully. He thought she could have put a little more sway in her step, but maybe that would have been overdoing it. He had to admit she was a fine looking woman when she wanted to be.

Elena had only made it a short way across the room when the strap holding her pocketbook somehow suddenly unhooked. Her pocketbook fell to the floor, it's contents spilling out.

"Oh dear," she said, stooping down to gather everything back together.

Reno saw her glance over at the guard.

"I can't believe the strap broke," she said, sounding upset. "I just bought this last week."

Suddenly Reno saw the guard coming over to her, his back to them.

"Here, I'll help you with that," he said.

A gentleman, Reno thought. He had hoped just to catch the guard's eye, this was even better. He nodded to Rude and they both walked swiftly but silently out into the room and toward the steps. As they reached them Reno couldn't resist pausing for a moment to cast an admiring glance over at Elena.

Rude grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him up the steps.

The tower was four stories, so it didn't take them long to reach the top. They found themselves in a narrow hallway with four rooms off it, two on each side.

Reno was about to suggest each one of them search a side when he noticed that one of the doors was barred closed.He walked over to it, lifted off the bar, and opened the door. A fist shot out and stuck him in the face. A diminutive figure burst past him. She swung a fist at Rude as well and he nearly fell over avoiding it.

"Yuffie!" Rude cried out as he stumbled backwards.

She was already past them and half a dozen steps down the hall when she turned to look at them.

"Huh!" she said in surprise. "You're involved in this too?"

Reno was leaning against the wall holding his nose.

"We're here to rescue you, you little idiot!" he exclaimed.

Yuffie looked at them skeptically.

"Yeah right," she said.

"It's true," Rude said calmly. "We were hired by your father to find you. Cloud and his friends are here too."

Yuffie paused, obviously undecided whether to trust them or not.

"You think we would let you out if we weren't on your side?" Reno said. "Oh God, that hurt."

She looked around, as if expecting others to suddenly appear. When no one did she slowly walked back over to them. She looked at Reno.

"Sorry," she said. "It's not like you're walking around wearing nametags that say good guy or bad guy on them."

Reno grumbled an unintelligable response.

"Can we discuss this later?" Rude asked, motioning for them to get a move on.

Reno nodded and started down the hall, Rude following. Yuffie hesitated.

Reno turned toward her.

"Well, do you want to get out of here or not?" he asked.

Yuffie didn't trust them, but she didn't see much else in the way of options save to go along with them for the moment. With a shrug, she followed.

Reno led them back through the hall and down the stairs. When they neared the bottem he told them to wait and walked ahead cautiouly. Getting in had proven to be easy, but he suspected getting out would be a little more difficult. He readied his nightstick. Now that they knew Zangan was holding Yuffie he wasn't too worried about having to resort to violence. If worst came to worst, he would have to take the guard out.

He could see the bottem of the stair now and partially into the room below, but he saw no sign of the guard. Puzzled he slowly walked down until he could see the entire room It was empty.

He stood there for a moment, uncertain. He had never seen the room unoccupied, and he didn't like it. What had become of Elena?

He walked back to the others and told them the situation.

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Yuffie asked when he said the room below was empty. "Let's get out of here."

She started down the stairs

Rude looked at Reno, who shrugged. There wasn't much else they could do but follow.

They caught up with Yuffie as she reached the bottem of the stairway. They all looked into the room, but it was still unoccupied.

Yuffie walked into the room immediately. Although Reno's instincts were telling him to be cautious he really couldn't see any reason to hesitate. If the guard had been called away by some fluke chance they had to get out of here as fast as possible. Who knew when he might suddenly reappear.

They walked quickly through the room, heading for the hallway to their right, but before they reached it five of Zangan's men stepped into the room in front of them.

Reno turned toward the other exit, the hallway on the opposite side of the room. Four more people were coming from that direction. One of them was Zangan holding Elena firmly by her arm.

They looked back and forth between the two groups.

"Busted," Yuffie sighed.

She turned to look at her companions.

"Some rescuers you turned out to be."

Reno gave her a look but said nothing.

Zangan handed Elena to Greco and walked over to them.

"I really wish you had been able to contain your curiousity," he stated. "You've made things complicated."

"We have a tendency to do that," Reno replied.

Zangan looked at Yuffie.

"And as for you, I'm afraid you've become more trouble than you're worth."

Yuffie gave him a 'who me?' look, but he was turning toward Greco.

"You know what to do," he said, and walked out of the room.

* * *

Cloud had just entered his room when Barret barged in behind him.

"I can't believe you didn't say anything!" he exclaimed.

Cloud looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"What do you mean?"

"Why didn't you say anything to her to make he change her mind?" he said.

"What was I supposed to say?"

"What do you mean, what were you supposed to say? Tell her you don't want her to do it, you dumbass," Barret continued, waving his arms in the air. "Tell her you want her to stay with us. Tell her you _need_ her to stay with us. Tell her..."

His whole body shook with rage and he stared expectantly at Cloud.

"Uugh!" he finished incomprehensibly.

"I did tell her I didn't want her to do it," Cloud protested.

"You told her she'd lost her mind!" Barret retorted. "That wouldn't even convince me to stay with you. And then you had to bring up Aeris! What an idiot!"

"If you are so concerned, why didn't you say something?" Cloud asked somewhat defensively.

"She doesn't want to hear it from me, fool. Don't you know anything?"

Barret stepped closer and waved his gun arm in Clouds face.

"Barret, calm down," Cloud said, reaching out and carefully pushing his arm aside. "I'm sure she'll come to her senses if we just give her a little time."

"Time," Barret snorted dismissively. "You don't got no more time. She's stood by you all this time and what has it gotten her? Nothing! When we all thought you were a nut case with all that was happening with Sephiroth, who was the one who supported you? When you were almost dead in Mideel who was the one who sat by your bed and didn't leave your side for more than a minute? Who was the one who helped pull you back together in the lifestream? She's done all that for you and did you ever even thank her for it?"

Barret glared at him.

"She's joining Zangan because I didn't thank her for sitting by my bed?" Cloud said.

Barret threw his arms in the air.

"You are as dumb as a post," he exclaimed. "I give up. I don't know what she sees in you. I guess I'll just have to talk her out of it myself!"

He strode over to the door, then turned and glared at Cloud once more. He started to speak, then changed his mind and just shook his head. He turned and stalked out, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

Barret went to Tifa's room after he left Cloud, but she was not there. He was still fuming about Cloud's apparent indifference to Tifa's decision, but as he walked through the halls he started to calm down a little.

She was probably with Zangan, he thought. He knew Zangan's office was in the west wing of the fortress, so he headed in that direction.

He walked through the lounge and saw Cait sitting on the couch.

"Hey Cait," he said, "have you seen Tifa?"

Cait shook his head.

"Not since she gave us the news," he replied.

Barret nodded.

He continued on his way, but hadn't gotten very far when one of Zangan's men hurried up to him.

"I couldn't help overhear," he said. "Tifa's in Zangan's office. I'll take you there."

Barret looked at the man and noddded curtly.

"This way," the man said.

Barret followed him down the hallway. They passed two other of Zangan's men going in the opposite direction. One was holding something familiar.

Barret turned to get a better look as they walked by. It looked like Reno's nightstick!

"Hey, hold on a..."

Barret felt something strike him in the back of the head, then he slumped to the floor.

* * *

Cait was shuffling his tarot cards when two of Zangan's men came into the room and approached him. He looked up and saw that one of them was pointing what looked like Reno's nightstick at him.

Back in Kalm, Reeve saw a flash of light on his computer screen, and then it went blank.

* * *

Cid, Vincent and Red sat around a table in the common room, having just polished off lunch.

"If I keep this up I'm going to be big as a house before we leave here," Cid said, sitting back contently in his chair.

"The way you've been packing it in, I'd think you had never eaten before in your life," Red commented. "What's the matter, hasn't Shera been feeding you properly?"

"Not lately," Vincent said quickly.

Cid looked at him with murder in his eyes, but said nothing.

Red looked from one to the other.

"Did I miss something here?" he asked.

Vincent just looked at Cid, who glared back at him for a long moment.

"All right," he finally blurted out. "Shera took off."

Red looked at him in surprise.

"What?"

"It's no big deal," Cid continued. "Just a little misunderstanding. I'm sure we'll straighten it all out when I get back to Rocket Town."

"How long ago?" Red questioned.

"About two weeks. What difference does it make? I don't want to talk about it," he said in rapid succession. Then he stopped and looked around suddenly.

"Why is the room spinning?" he asked.

Vincent looked at him knowingly.

"How much have you had to drink?" he asked.

Cid shrugged.

"Who's counting?" he said.

"Cid, you really should take it easy on the liquor," Red cut in. "Especially after all that's happened."

Cid looked at Red, but his focus seemed to be a little off, and he ended up looking at a plant in a pot by the wall just behind Red.

"I really haven't had that much," he defended himself. He looked around groggily for a moment, then slumped foward, his face landing in his plate.

Vincent started to get up, but sat back down abruptly and brought his hands up to his head.

"I feel a little woozy myself," he stated.

Red turned to look at him and the room seemed to spin around him.

"Me too," he said, with sudden concern. "And all I had to drink was water."

Vincent stumbled to his feet. He pulled out the Death Penalty and started toward the door, but only made it a few steps before he collasped.

Red sniffed carefully at his glass, but he could detect nothing out of the ordinary. Not that he would notice at this point. He could barely see straight. He knew he was moments from unconsciousness, and without some clue as to what kind of drug had been used there wasn't much he could do about it.

He slowly eased himself to the ground and waited patiently until blackness took him.

* * *

A knock on her bedroom door made Aeris look up.

"Come in," she said.

The door opened and she saw two of Zangan's men standing in the hallway.

"Cloud wants you to come to Zangan's office," one of the men said. "C'mon, we'll take you there."

Aeris glanced at them in surprise.

"In Zangan's office?" she repeated.

She looked at them for a moment without moving.

"Why didn't he come get me himself?" she asked.

The man shrugged.

"Beats me lady, I'm just the messenger. He did say it was urgent."

Aeris looked at them for a moment more, then nodded. Almost as an afterthought, she grabbed the Princess Guard as she followed them out the door.

They led her down the hallway and through the common room. She looked around, but she saw no sign of any of her friends. As they entered the hallway on the opposite side of the room one of the men slowed down until he fell behind her.

Suddenly Aeris heard a voice inside her head. It was the voice of her mother, Infalna.

"Run."

Without hesitation she turned and swung the Princess Guard all in one motion. The rod hit the man behind her solidly just below the knee. He bellowed in pain and crumpled to the ground, clutching his leg.

The other man turned around just as she deftly pivoted her weapon and caught him in the face with the other end of it.

He went down as well.

She stepped over him and was about to run down the hallway when two more men appeared at the end of it.

"Stop her!" the man she had hit on the leg shouted.

She turned and ran back the other way. The man who had shouted lunged for her as she ran past him, but she swung her rod again as she went by and he jerked back to avoid it.

She ran back toward the bedrooms. She glanced back to see that the men were gaining on her. She increased her speed, but she didn't think she could outrun them. If she could stay ahead of them long enough, she thought, she might have a chance to warn the others.

* * *

Cloud sat in his room for a long time after Barret left, lost in thought. He felt he had somehow lost control of the situation, but he wasn't quite sure how it had happened, or what he could do about it. It seemed to him that the whole team was unraveling. He had thought the bad blood between Barret, Tifa and the Turks would be the most probable cause of contention, but he hadn't expected any of this. Tifa joining Zangan, Barret furious about it. The Turks missing in action. What else could go wrong?

He stood up and slowly started to pace back and forth.

Barret's words nagged at him. The more he thought about it the more he realized that Barret had been right about at least one thing. He had taken Tifa's loyalty for granted. It wouldn't hurt to talk to her again. Whatever else happened, he decided, he wasn't going to leave here without her.

There was a knock on the door.

Cloud walked over and opened it to see Zangan outside.

"I need to talk to you," he said.

Cloud motioned for him to come in.

"I haven't been completely honest," Zangan continued. He walked into the room as he spoke. As he stepped past Cloud he suddenly wheeled and struck Cloud in the chest with an open palm.

Cloud was taken completely by surprise. His entire body suddenly went numb and he fell helplessly to the floor.

Zangan reached down and slipped Cloud's sword out of it's sheath. He took it over to the table and laid it down. He looked at Cloud.

"Sorry about that," he said, "but I couldn't take the chance you would use this thing. I saw how you fought against us."

Cloud tried to get up but his muscles wouldn't listen. He tried to speak but no sound came out.

"Don't worry," Zangan said. "The effect will wear off shortly, and you'll be as good as new. There's nothing you can do about it, so just try to relax."

* * *

Aeris turned the corner that led to their bedrooms. The hall was empty, but she saw that Cloud's door was open.

She looked back to see that the men following her were right on her heels.

"Cloud!" she shouted.

She swung the Princess Guard blindly behind her and with a burst of speed reached Cloud's door. She turned into the room and stopped dead when she saw Cloud on the floor with Zangan standing over him.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

Zangan stepped toward her. She swung her rod, but he easily sidestepped it, then reached out and grabbed hold of it, wrenching it out of her hands.

The two men who were following ran in and nearly tackled her.

"Easy," Zangan said when he saw how roughly they grabbed her. He looked at her casually.

"It seems you are all full of surprises. How is it that you evaded four of my men?"

Aeris looked at him calmly.

"What have you done to Cloud?" she questioned.

"He'll be fine," Zangan replied.

The two men that had originally knocked on Aeris door appeared. The one she had hit in the face glared at her angrily. He looked like he was going to say something to her but glanced at Zangan and remained silent.

Zangan had the two of them haul Cloud up and seat him in his chair. Cloud could feel the numbness begining to wear off. He looked at them both.

"We've had the girl, Yuffie, all along. I didn't want to deceive you, but I knew you wouldn't understand if I told you. Unfortunately your friends, the Turks, were a little too nosy and found her. So we had to take care of them. It would have been just a matter of time before you realized that of course, so now we have to get rid of all of you. I was hoping to avoid this situation."

"So you _are_ in on it," Aeris exclaimed. "Did you kill Staniv?"

"It was my men, and I'm in charge of them, so I guess you could say I was responsible."

Cloud mumbled something.

Zangan looked at him.

"Coming back to your senses I see. What did you say?"

Cloud took a deep breath.

"How..." he said slowly. He swallowed and shook his head. "How could you do this?"

"My reasons are my own," Zangan replied. "I do not owe you an explanation."

"How can you do this to Tifa?" Cloud said, more strongly now. "She admires you so much. You were the one person who always stood by his principles. What is she going to think when she finds out about this?"

Zangan was silent for a long time.

"We all make choices in life, and have to live with the consequences, no matter how hard that may be. What's done is done and I can't change it now, now matter how much I may regret it. I don't ask for forgiveness, it's too late for that. I just hope she will understand that someday."

"She'll never understand if you kill us," Aeris said.

Zangan turned toward her.

"Oh, I have no intention of killing you," he replied. "Banishment is what I had in mind, actually. How you fare after that, however, is up to you."

He turned and walked toward the door.

"Bring them," he said, motioning to his men.

Two of the men helped Cloud to his feet. He wobbled for a moment as he got up, but then steadied himself. He felt almost normal again.

Zangan led them out of the room and down the hallway. Cloud looked around, but he saw no sign of the others. He could only assume that they already had been captured.

They walked though the building until they reached the entrance to the lab. Zangan led them down a flight of stairs. When they reached the lower level Cloud looked around. They had never been down here before. In front of them the corridor ran a short distance to an open door. Inside he could see a couple of people in lab coats working on some instruments.

Zangan turned and led them down another flight of steps. This led into a large room what looked like a storage area. It was filled with wooden boxes and barrels. There was a solid metal trapdoor in the floor at the far end of the room. They walked over to it and Greco opened it. Cloud saw a ladder leading down into darkness.

"I'm afraid this is where we are going to have to part ways," Zangan said. "This shaft leads to ice caves that run below the fortress. They lead out onto the frozen plains near the Gaea Cliffs. With determination and a great deal of luck, you may be able to make it. Of couse, by then it will be too late for you to interfere."

Zangan motioned for them to go down the ladder. Cloud stepped onto it and looked at Zangan. It was pretty obvious there was nothing he could say that would influence the man, but he felt he had to say something.

"This isn't the end of it."

Zangan returned his gaze steadily.

"You better hope for your sake that it is," he replied. "I've spared your lives because you are Tifa's friends. If we meet again, I will not be so lenient."

Cloud shook his head and started down the ladder. Aeris followed behind. As soon as they were both in the tunnel Cloud heard the trapdoor slam shut above them. He had to stop for a moment to let his eyes adjust to the darkness, but it wasn't completely black. He looked down and saw that the tunnel below him was lit by a faint blue luminessence.

"Are you okay, Aeris?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied.

He started down the ladder once more. The shaft led down to a tunnel whose walls were encased in gleaming blue ice. As he reached the bottem he heard someone call his name. He turned to see Cid, Cait, Vincent, Red and Barret coming over.

"So they got you too, huh?" Cid said.

"Fraid so," Cloud replied.

"Where's Tifa?" Barret asked.

Cloud shrugged.

"Still with him, I guess. I wonder what he's going to tell her?"

"I don't know," Barret replied. "But when I get hold of him again I'm gonna tear him apart with my bare hands, no matter how she feels about him!"

Cloud nodded.

"Looks like Reno was right all along," he said ruefully.

"Whatever happened to him anyway?" Vincent said. "Do you think they've escaped capture?"

"No," Cloud said. "Zangan told me he had to take care of them when they found Yuffie, but he didn't say what that meant. I'm afraid we're on our own."

"They found Yuffie?" Cait said in surprise.

"That's what Zangan said. I don't think he would lie about that," Cloud responded. "Apparently she was here all the time."

They stood there for a moment in silence.

"So what do we do now?" Cid asked.

"I suggest we find a way out of here as quickly as possible," Red said. "With no weapons, food or winter clothing it's not likely we'll survive for very long. The sooner we get started the better."

"Gee, you're such an optimist," Cid stated.

"Optimist or not, he's right," Cloud said. "I don't think we can go back up the way we came. That trapdoor looked too solid to break through, and I'm sure they'll have posted a guard."

He looked down the tunnel.

"Let's get going," he said.

They followed him down the tunnel. The cavern led slowly uphill, the ice one the walls thickening as they passed. The soft light that seemed to eminate from the ice bathed them in a blue glow.

"It's beautiful," Aeris commented.

"Yeah, it'll make a real attractive tomb," Barret growled.

They walked a little further and the tunnel suddenly opened up into a large cavern. One wall of the cave was encased in a frozen waterfall of ice. They looked at it in wonder. Even Barret seemed impressed.

Suddenly Cloud spotted movement across the cavern at the base of the waterfall. He recognized the figures.

"Hey, it's the Turks, and Yuffie!" he said.

The others looked and saw he was right. Aeris called out to them. Elena waved in return and the two groups made their way toward each other.

They met near the middle of the cavern. Everyone with Cloud stared at Elena.

"That's kind of a new look for you, isn't it?" Vincent observed, taking a long look at her legs.

Elena turned red and glared at Reno.

"It's all his fault," she said angrily. "He made me wear this and now I'm freezing to death!"

"So why didn't you just say no?" Cid said.

"It was all part of a plan to spring her," Elena answered, pointing at Yuffie.

"And now I'm oh so much better off," Yuffie replied sarcastically.

Reno looked at her.

"Remind me never to rescue you again."

"You call this rescuing me?" she shot back.

"How long have you been down here?" Red cut in.

Reno shrugged.

"Hard to say, maybe an hour or two."

"Have you found anything of interest?" Cait asked.

"Just a lot of ice," Reno replied. "We found the way out, but it just leads onto an enormous ice field. We were hoping to maybe find another way."

"From what Zangan said, I don't think there is another way," Cloud said. "Let's go take a look."

They set off once again, this time with Reno and the Turks in the lead. They entered a narrow crevice at the far side of the cavern that forced them to walk in single file. They turned a corner and the path led steeply upward. Up ahead the blue light of the ice faded away into real sunlight.

The cave mouth was a narrow gap at the base of the Gaea Cliffs. They looked out upon a barren ice field that ran as far as the eye could see in all directions, save for the jagged upthrust peaks behind them. As Cloud stepped out of the cave a fiece blast of cold air hit him. He hastily retreated back into the tunnel.

"It's freezing out there," he said.

"That's why we were looking for another way," Reno said.

"How far to you think it is to Holzoff's cabin?" Vincent asked.

"Who knows," Cloud replied. "I've never seen this area before. It could be five miles or fifty. Either way, we're not going to get very far out there without warmer clothing."

"In other words, we're not going to get very far out there at all," Yuffied clarified.

Cloud stood looking out across the ice.

"We've got to do something!" Barret exclaimed.

"Well, I'm sure as hell not going out there," Elena stated flatly.

"No, it would be foolish for us all to go," Cloud said. "It will only take one person to get us help."

"So who gets to go?" Cid questioned.

"Who's best equipped to deal with the cold?" Elena asked.

"Red over here already has a built in fur coat," Reno pointed out.

"I will attempt it if you wish," Red replied. "However, my species is adapted to the desert, and my coat is not long enough to provide much more warmth than the ordinary clothing you wear. I'm afraid I would be a poor choice."

"Cait, what about you?" Cid asked suddenly. "You're a robot. You don't feel cold, do you?"

"No I don't," Cait replied. "But my circuits were not designed to function in excessively cold weather. I would freeze up before I got very far."

"Great," Barret mumbled.

"Reno, you should go," Yuffie said suddenly. "You're the one who got us into this in the first place."

Reno turned toward her angrily.

"Why you ungrateful..." he sputtered. "Why don't you go? You can use your vaunted ninja spirit to protect you from the cold. It certainly wasn't much good at getting you out of a locked room."

"I think Barret should go," Rude weighed in. "He's got the most body mass. He can resist the cold longest."

"Are you trying to say I'm fat?" Barret exclaimed.

"Or how bout Vincent?" Reno said. "I've heard vampires are very resistant to cold."

"I'm not a vampire," Vincent said defensively.

"Rude, you go," Cid said. "The sun reflecting off that bald head of yours would be like sending up a flare. People will be able to see you from miles away."

"Or how about you," Elena said, turning to Cid. "You can leave a trail of cigarette butts for us all to follow."

"And what about..." Reno started to say.

"Shut up!" Aeris shouted suddenly.

They all looked at her in surprise.

"Thank you," Cloud said. He looked at the others.

"I'll go. It'll be worth it to not have to listen to you all bickering anymore."

They all fell silent. Reno looked disappointed. He had been starting to enjoy himself.

Cloud walked to the cave entrance and looked out over the bleak landscape once more.

Aeris came up beside him.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she said.

"Doesn't seem like there's much choice," he replied. "We can't stay here forever. The cold will get us even in these caves eventually, or hunger. We'd just last a little bit longer."

She put her hand on his shoulder, then reached up and kissed him on the cheek.

"Be careful," she said.

"I will," he replied. He turned to the others.

"Later."

He walked out of the cave, but he hadn't gone more than a few steps when Reno called out to him.

"Wait."

Cloud turned around impatiently.

"What now?"

"I'll come with you," he said, walking up to the cave entrance beside Aeris.

"What?" Cloud said, and heard it echoed by some of the others inside.

"It'd be tough out there on someone all alone," he continued. "It would be better if two of us go."

Cloud just looked at him. He seemed to be perfectly serious.

"Why Reno, I'm surprised at you," Aeris said.

"Well, anything would be better than sitting around here just waiting. Besides, if we sent him out there all alone, he's just going to get hopelessly lost on us."

Cloud frowned but did not respond.

"Well, let's get going then," was all he said.

Reno turned to Aeris.

"Hey, don't I get a kiss too?"

Aeris looked at him for a moment.

"That depends," she replied. "Is this just a ploy to steal a kiss from me?"

Reno looked at her indignently.

"I'm shocked you would think I would be so devious," he said. "I give you my word as a Turk that this is no trick."

She hesitated a moment more, then reached up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

He touched his cheek and looked at her lovingly.

"I'm never going to wash that spot again," he said.

"That something new?" he heard Elena call out.

He glanced back at the cave.

"Anybody notice that the sarcasm level has gone way up around here lately," he said.

"Let's go," Cloud said.

They walked out onto the barren plain. They headed east, following the line of the mountains. Mr. Holzoff's cabin had to be somewhere in that direction, but they had no idea how far. The wind whistled around them, blowing down from the hills, and making it visciously cold. It wan't long before they were both shivering uncontrollably.

The ice was broken and jagged, making the going tremendously difficult. Because of the uneven landscape they could not see far ahead, and so had to guess at the best route. As a result they often came up suddenly on deep uncrossable crevices barring their path and forcing them to double back or turn out of their way to find their way around.

Cloud paused for a moment to take a look around. He wasn't sure how long they ahd been out here, but it seemed like hours. Looking back he shook his head at how little progress they had made. At this rate it would take them all day to go just a few miles. They wouldn't get very far before they froze to death at this rate.

Hours passed slowly, but after a while the minutes just seemed to run together. It was so bitterly cold it took all their strength just to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other. Cloud found his focus shrinking from finding Holzoff's cabin to reaching landmarks he picked out in the landscape ahead, until finally he didn't lift his head at all, for it took all his concentration just to take the next step.

Reno stumbled and fell. Cloud came over to help him, but he got up on his own. His red hair was covered with frost and he had a faraway look in his eye. He mumbled something unintelligeble but continued walking.

Cloud felt his own strength ebbing as well. He felt a strong urge to lie down and rest. It was obviously hopeless to continue. Why not at least rest and be comfortable?

Somehow he managed to resist the urge. Some part of him still knew that stopping now would mean their deaths. Their only chance was to keep moving.

They plodded on in what was begining to feel like some kind of endless torture. After a while he wasn't even sure what direction they were going in, or even what direction they should be going in. All he thought about was just to force his feet forward. If he could only do that, he thought, he would be all right.

Reno dropped to the ground beside him once more. He stopped to help him up, but found himself sinking to the ground as well. He told himself that he should get up, that he would die if he stayed here, but his body didn't seem to be listening. He felt himself slowly overcome by an overwheliming desire to sleep.

His head sank down slowly onto the ice. He thought he saw some white figures looming up around him, but he didn't pay much attention. Calmly he closed his eyes and dropped off into oblivion.

* * *

Tifa stepped into Zangan's office. He was sitting behind his desk, looking at some papers. When he saw her he pushed them aside. He looked at her carefully.

"Have you seen any of my friends?" she asked. "I've been looking all over, but I haven't been able to find any of them."

He looked at her for a long time without speaking, and it seemed to her he was trying to think of just what to say. From the way he looked at her she sensed something was wrong.

"Has something happened?" she asked.

"Sit down," he said kindly.

She looked at him withut moving.

"Please."

She stepped over to the chair in front of his desk and sat down slowly.

He looked at her for a moment.

"I guess there's no easy way to break this to you, so I'll just say it. Your friends have left."

"What?" she said.

"They've gone looking for Renada," he continued. "They left a couple of hours ago."

"Did they say when they were coming back?" she questioned disconcertedly.

Zangan sighed.

"Tifa," he said slowly, "I don't think they are coming back."

"But... but why would they do that?" she said, now visibly upset. "They wouldn't just leave me, not without even saying goodbye. Cloud wouldn't..."

She feel silent and looked away from him. He could see she was struggling to remain in control of herself.

"I'm sorry Tifa, I truely am," he said. "It's obvious that you had very strong feelings for this young man. But you have seen for yourself that the feeling was not mutual, and he is enamored with this other young lady. I know that is a hard thing to take, but it is something almost all of us go through at least once in our lives. I know it won't help now for me to say that things will get better, but they will. Perhaps a clean break is the best thing for you both."

Tifa said nothing, embarrased by her actions and the fact that her feelings were so transparent to Zangan.

"Besides," he continued. "Just because they left doesn't mean you'll never see them again. I'm sure you'll all meet up again somewhere down the road, and probably all have a good laugh over this."

Tifa looked up at him again. She sincerly doubted that was true, but she was thankful for his kind words.

"Maybe you're right," she said finally. "I'm sorry I've made such a fool of myself."

"Forget it," Zangan said, dismissing it with a wave of his hand. "I understand. I was young once myself," he finished slowly.

Tifa got up and walked slowly to the door. When she reached it she turned to him once more.

"Thank you," she said. "For everything. You've always looked out for me, even when I didn't want it. I don't know what I would do without you."

He looked at her with the trace of a smile, but it vanished in an instant.

"Go get some rest," was all he said.

She left the room, closing the door behind her. For a long time Zangan sat unmoving, staring at the desk in front of him, his face expresionless. Then he suddenly swept his arm angrily across his desk, knocking most of the papers on it to the floor. He placed his elbows on the desk and rested his head wearily in his hands.

"Damn," he said softly.

* * *

Elena sat in a narrow crevice at the back of the tunnel, shivering uncontrollably. Darkness had fallen outside, and it was colder than ever, even inside the cave.

Vincent came over and looked at her.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm fr..freezing," she responded through chattering teeth.

He sat down beside her. She huddled up next to him for warmth. He put his arm around her and looked over at the others.

"She can't take much more of this," he said.

"I know," Barret said sympathetically. "But there's not much we can do about it, is there?"

"Do you think Cloud and Reno have reached Mr. Holzoff's cabin yet?" Cait asked.

"Who knows?" Cid replied. "For all we know they could still be wandering around on that plain."

"If they're still out there now," Red said, glancing out the cavern entrance, "they don't stand much of a chance."

"I still can't believe Reno went," Cid muttered.

Elena looked at Vincent.

"You know, you're nothing like they said you were," she said softly.

"What did they say I was like?" Vincent asked.

"You know," she replied. "Cold and detached. But you don't seem that way to me at all. You seem like a warm and caring person. Especially warm," she finished, cuddling up closer to him.

He looked up at the others, but they were engaged in their own conversation and seemed to be paying no attention.

"Don't let it get around," he answered. "And who are they, by the way?"

Elena shrugged.

"Everyone, I guess."

"Everyone?" he said, eyeing her skeptically. Then the trace of a smile appeared on his lips. "Good."

"You're terrible," she said.

With nightfall the blue glow of the ice had once more become apparent, even this close to the entrance to the cave. Elena reached out and ran her hand along the wall ligthly.

"I wonder what makes the ice glow?"

"I don't know," Vincent replied. "But Aeris was right, it's very beautiful."

"I know," she said. "But I would appreciate it more if it was a little warmer. Do you think we're going to get out of here?"

Vincent resisted the urge to tell her it was unlikely. That probably wasn't what she wanted to hear, even though he thought it the truth.

"I hope so," he replied.

He glanced down at her. She was still looking at the wall, her face so close that her hair brushed against his cheek. In the glow of the ice surrounding them she looked...lovely.

He turned his head away. After all this time and all he had been through he thought himself immune to such feelings. After the ressurection of Aeris he had spent some time with Lucrecia, but they soon realized that the scars that seperated them were just too great to overcome. Now his love for her seemed just to have been a dream of his lost youth, not anything based in reality. They had parted soon after, and he had resigned himself to fact that, along with everything else Hojo had taken from him, he had also taken his capacity to care for another.

But how he felt now was making him begin to question that assumption. Could it be there was still a spark of human emotion left inside him? That Hojo hadn't removed the last trace of humanity from him with his brutal experiments? He had been living for so long without hope...

Elena rested her head on his chest.

"I'm so tired," she said softly.

He did not reply but laid his hand on the back of her head, almost in a caress. She was not shivering now.

No, he thought. It would be foolish of him to get his hopes up. They had been dashed too many times times in the past. Everyone was striving to find their own personal happiness, to live happily ever after. But it was not possible for everyone to achieve that. There were always some who fell short, and Vincent had realized even before Hojo's experiments that he was among that group.

Though Elena's body was warm beside him he suddenly felt colder than he had all day. It seemed more likely to him than ever that they would never get out of here alive.

* * *

Cid walked up to the mouth of the cave to have a smoke. He saw Aeris standing in the entrance, looking out into the darkness.

"Why don't you go back inside," he suggested. "It's cold out here."

She shrugged.

"It's cold everywhere," she replied.

She turned and looked back into the tunnel. Then she smiled for a moment.

"What?" Cid questioned.

"They make a cute couple."

"Who?"

She pointed. Cid saw Vincent and Elena sitting together at the far end of the cavern.

"Them, a couple? Nah, she was just cold in that skimpy outfit," he said.

Aeris gave him a quizzical look.

"What are you blind," she said. "They've been making eyes at each other since Icicle Inn."

"Vicent and Elena?" Cid exclaimed. "No way."

Aeris shook her head.

"You really should pay a little more attention to what is going on around you," she said.

"I do so pay atten..." he started to protest. "Gah!"

Suddenly a white furred creature loomed out of the darkness behind her.

She turned around at his cry. The beast was almost upon her, and she could see others behind it. She swung up the Princess Guard.

The creature ducked back.

"Hey, watch it with that thing," said a familiar voice.

"Cloud!" Aeris exclaimed.

The white beasts resolved themselves into fur clad humans. Cloud pulled his hood down as Aeris rushed into his arms.

"You made it!" Cid exclaimed.

Reno came up beside Cloud as the others, hearing the commotion, made their way to the cave entrance as well.

Another figure in white walked up beside Cloud and Reno. They could see three others behind.

The third figure dropped her hood to reveal a young woman with long blonde hair and steely blue eyes. The others came up behind her.

"Everyone," Cloud said, turning to face her. "Meet Renanda's Raiders."


	9. Finally, Some Action!

CHAPTER IX

FINALLY, SOME ACTION!

Quays placed his hands carefully, almost lovingly, on the materia and felt the tingling sensation once again. The colors swirled inside it and this time almost instantly turned green. He felt the intoxicating power flow into him, letting it wash over him. He stood there for a long time, much longer than the previous time, reveling in it. When he finally released it he thought the shock would tear him apart. He fell to the floor and laid there for long minutes, exhausted.

* * *

Tifa woke up and looked around. The room was dark, but she felt a tremor run through the building. She thought the whole room had shook, but it could have just been a dream. She got up and walked over to the window, staring out into the darkness. All was silent and calm.

Her room looked out over the courtyard, and beyond that the opposite side of the fortress. She could just make out the dark forest beyond in the moonlight. She stared out at the trees for a long time.

She couldn't help but wonder where her friends were now.

* * *

Cloud shook his head and sat up. He looked around, but he could barely see in the darkness. He thought he had heard Aeris cry out.

He rubbed his eyes and looked over at her. He could make out her dim form nearby, but she seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

Slowly he eased himself back down, but it took him a long time to fall asleep again.

* * *

Just past the Gaea Cliffs the moon shone starkly over the barren region known as the North Crater. Long after the tremors from the release of the Ultima from Quays materia had ceased the ground around the crater continued to tremble. In fact the vibrations began to grow, and soon the entire crater was shaking violently.

There was a tremendous roar, and dirt and rocks began to spew from the crater, shooting up into the atmosphere as if by some cataclysmic upheaval of the earth. The few creatures that inhabited the area fled for their lives as the crater was obscured in a huge cloud of rock and dust. So it was that nothing on earth saw the clawed hand, half as large as a soccer field, that suddenly reached out of the crater and clamped down on the cold earth beside it.

* * *

Cid yawned as he walked into the room. He looked around and saw that all the others were there, as well as Renada and a number of her men. She looked at him as he came in.

"Well, you're all here now. I guess we can begin."

Cid sat down beside Vincent. Renada had led them back to her headquarters the night before, but by the time they got there they had all been too exhausted to ask any questions, so she had agreed to fill them in in the morning.

"I thought Renada was supposed to be a guy," Cid whispered to Vincent.

"Apparently they just assumed that," Vincent replied.

Cid shook his head.

"Leave it to Cloud and Reno to walk out into a barren wilderness and come back with fur coats and a beautiful woman."

"Cloud told us a little bit about you when we rescued him," Renanda said to them all. "Enough for me to realize that we all should be working together. I understand you were in the fortress. Do you know what Quays is working on?"

"He's gathering all the materia energy in the region and concentrating it in one huge materia orb," Cloud replied.

"Have you seen the orb?" Renanda questioned.

"No," Cloud replied. "We weren't allowed down in the lab."

"Do you know why he's doing this?" she asked.

"He told us for scientific advancement and the betterment of all mankind," Reno said. "But we find that rather unlikely."

"I assume he wants to use the materia as a weapon," Cloud said.

"Not quite," she replied. "He's got bigger plans than that. He actually wants to use the materia to force the planet to release another WEAPON."

"Another WEAPON?" Cloud said. "Why?"

"He believes he can use the super materia to control it," she responded. "As you know, the WEAPONs are tremedously powerful creatures, but they are controlled by the planet and will destroy any threat to it, even human threats. But if he were somehow able to control that power, he would be unstoppable. He could demand anything he wanted and destroy anyone who stood in his way."

"So that's why I felt the danger," Aeris exclaimed. "And the pain. He was using the materia to hurt the planet in an effort to get it to create another WEAPON."

Renanda nodded.

"And the greater the danger, the more powerful the WEAPON it would produce. He has carefully calculated the damage that would be neccessary to make the planet create the most powerful WEAPON it could, much more powerful than any of the others we have seen. This WEAPON would be the SUPREME WEAPON, and it's power would be inconcievable."

"And he wants to use the materia, this 'super' materia, to control it?" Cloud said.

"Yes," she replied. "He has concluded that in theory the materia would be stong enough for him to manipulate the WEAPON with it. If it works, he will control SUPREME WEAPON instead of the planet."

"In theory?" Red said. "What if it doesn't work?"

"If it doesn't work then the SUPREME WEAPON will carry out it's original instructions from the planet and eliminate the threat, which of course, would be Quays and his super materia."

"So he could be bringing about his own destruction," Barret exclaimed.

"Possibly," Renada replied. "But we cannot count on that. The materia will probably work, and then the WEAPON will be under his control. Even if it doesn't work and Quays and the super materia are destroyed, we'll still have SUPREME WEAPON wandering around without any idea of what it may do. Nobody wants to have a lion wandering around in their house, especially if they don't know whether it is going to be hungrey for more or not. No offense meant," she said, looking at Red.

"None taken," he replied.

"No, the best thing to do would be to stop Quays before he releases WEAPON. We are planning an assault on the fortress. Today. Any of you who wish to join us would be more than welcome. We're planning on finishing this now, before it gets out of hand."

"Excuse me," Cait spoke up from near the back. "But I am afraid it is already too late."

"What do you mean?" Renada asked.

"A WEAPON has been spotted moving south near Icicle Inn. Also, Quays has contacted all the major cities and demanded that they declare him their supreme ruler or he will use WEAPON to destroy them. As proof of his power and control over WEAPON he has selected one city to be destroyed as an example. WEAPON is headed there right now."

"What city?" Cloud said sharply.

Cait paused for a moment and looked at Cid.

"Rocket Town."

Cid jumped up.

"Rocket Town! Damn. Shera!"

Everyone started talking at once.

"Hold on a minute," Cloud shouted.

He turned to look at Renanda when the others had quieted down.

"We're with you, but we have to do it now. We have to stop WEAPON from destroying Rocket Town."

"Of course," Renanda replied. "Everything has already been prepared. We can leave as soon as we get our gear together."

"How far away are we from the fortress?" Red asked.

"About ten miles," she responded. "It will take us about a half hour to get there."

"Half hour?" Barret said in surprise. "I don't know about you, but my feet don't go that fast."

Renada turned and looked at him.

"Then we shall have to do better than your feet," she replied. "Follow me."

She led the out the door and around the building. In the back was a large pen filled with white Chocobos.

"These fellows should make things a bit easier on your feet," she said.

"Excellent," Barret said in agreement.

Cloud walked up beside Renada.

"Thanks for the help."

"We're helping each other," she replied. "I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart. My brother worked for Quays, but when he found out what Quays was really up to he refused to continue. Quays killed him."

Cloud was silent for a moment.

"I'm sorry," he said.

She shrugged.

Aeris came up beside them.

"We better hurry," she said.

"Now that SUPREME WEAPON is already here, what exactly is the plan?" Cloud asked.

"I guess all we can do now is destroy the super materia," Renanda replied.

"But what will happen to WEAPON then?" Cloud asked. "Will he return to the planet once the threat is gone?"

"I don't know," Renanda replied.

Cloud looked at Aeris.

"It depends on whether the planet thinks there are any other threats," she said. "But we may not have to worry about that. If you can get me to the super materia, I may be able to stop WEAPON with it."

"What makes you think you can do that?" Renada asked.

"She's an Ancient," Cloud replied.

Renada's eyebrows went up.

"I had heard there were none of you left," she said.

"I am the last," Aeris replied simply.

Renanda nodded.

"Very well. The plan is to storm the fortess and get the materia into your hands. Now we better ger moving. We're wasting valuable time."

"One other thing," Cloud said suddenly. "One of our friends is still in the fortress."

"I assure you we will do our best to make sure that none of his prisoners are harmed," Renada said.

"She's not a prisoner," Cloud responded. "She's one of Zangan's people."

Renanda looked at him in surprise.

"Is she some sort of spy?" she said.

"No, she's really working with him, but she doesn't know of Quays plan."

Renanda frowned.

"We'll do what we can," she said. "But if she opposes us...well, you know what we'll have to do."

Cloud nodded, but if nothing else, he was going to make damn sure he was the first one to reach Tifa once the assault began.

"Let's mount up," Renada called out.

The pen was opened, Renada and her men collected their gear as the Chocobos were brought out, giving Cloud and his friends weapons as well. There wasn't enough Chocobos for all to ride so some had to share, even though Red would not ride one at all. His four legs would let him easily keep up with the birds, and the Chocobo hadn't been born yet that would let the lion like carnivore ride on it's back. Cloud helped Aeris climb up behind him and moved up beside Cid.

"Cid," he said. "Take Vincent and Elena and head back to Mr. Holzoff's cabin. Get the Slipstream and try and stop WEAPON from reaching Rocket Town, or at least slow it down."

Cid nodded, moved up beside Vincent and Elena, and then they broke away and galloped ahead.

Renada, at the head of the formation, turned to the others.

"For my brother and all who have been hurt by this madman," she shouted. "Let's finish this!"

She turned and spurred her Chocobo onward, with the others right behind.

* * *

Tifa sat in the common room. It was long after lunch, and the room was empty save for her. There was a plate in front of her, but she had barely touched the food.

She felt more alone than she had since her father had died. All her friends were gone, and she hadn't really become friendly with any of Zangan's men. Most of them were polite but kept their distance, and some of them were obviously not pleased about her being here at all. Zangan was almost always busy, and had little time to spend with her.

Again she wondered where here friends were, and if they would come back anytime soon. She was begining to think that maybe she had made a mistake, and had let jelousy dictate her actions. Maybe she should try to go find them.

She got up and started walking down the hall past their bedrooms.

No, she decided. She wasn't the one who had left. They had left her. Besides, if Cloud really did want Aeris then she would just be in the way. Perhaps all this time she had just been a wedge between them, keeping them apart. She didn't want Cloud and Aeris to be seperated just because he felt sorry for her. Better to let him go.

She felt tears starting to form in her eyes again.

"Snap out of it," she said aloud.

She found herself in the lounge. She sat down on the couch and folded her arms across her chest, a look of determination on her face.

Cloud and Aeris were gone, she thought. It was time to get on with her own life.

She looked down and saw there was something on the floor beside the small table in front of the couch. It looked like a deck of cards.

She kneeled down and picked one of them up.

Tarot cards.

She stood there in thought for a long time, then she gathered the cards up and walked swiftly away.

* * *

Zangan was sitting in his office, head bowed, when Tifa burst in. She walked over to him angrily and dropped the tarot cards on his desk. He looked up at her in surprise.

"What are these doing here?" she asked.

Zangan looked at the cards, then at her.

"What do you mean?"

"These are Cait's tarot cards. Why didn't he take them with him when he left?"

Zangan shrugged.

"How should I know. He must have forgotten them."

Tifa shook her head.

"You obviously don't know Cait very well. He would never forget these cards. His fortune telling skills, if you could call them that, are all he ever thinks about. He never lets these cards out of his sight. Now what's going on here?"

Zangan sat back in his chair.

"There's nothing going on," he replied. "I don't know why your friend left his cards. Perhaps he forgot them, perhaps he just left them knowing he would be back for them soon. I think you're making something out of nothing."

Tifa just stared at him, but her face softened, and for a moment he thought she was going to believe him. And in truth she wanted to. She didn't want to believe that Zangan would lie to her, or withold the truth, but was she letting her belief in him blind her to what was really going on? How could she know what the real truth was? Suddenly an idea came to her.

"Fine," she said. "If you won't tell me, then I'll go talk to Quays."

She turned and walked toward the door, but before she could exit Zangan called out to her.

"Wait."

She turned and looked at him. For a long time he did not speak.

"I was hoping..."

He turned his head away, but she saw the sadness that she had noticed on other occasions, and for the first time it suddenly hit her how old and tired Zangan looked.

"Well, it doesn't matter what I hoped," Zangan continued. "I have betrayed you, Tifa. Your friends did not leave on their own, I forced them to go. The girl, Yuffe, she was here all the time. I sent her with them as well. They are probably all dead by now."

Tifa turned pale.

"What?" she said. "How could you..."

"The Turks found Yuffie. I knew if you found the girl you would all turn against us. I couldn't get rid of the Turks without raising the suspicions of your friends, so I had to get rid of all of them."

Tifa continued to stare at him, horrified.

"But why?" she burst out. "They were my friends."

"They would have interfered with the plan," Zangan replied. "They would have tried to stop Quays."

Tifa stared at Zangan. She didn't know what to say. All she could think of was how could he have possibly betrayed her like this?

"What is Quays doing?" she asked.

"He's used the materia to make the planet create another WEAPON. He can control it with the super materia. He's using WEAPON to basically take over the planet. Even now WEAPON is on it's way to destroy Rocket Town."

Tifa fell silent again. This was just too overwhelming. She didn't know what to think. But one obvious question did come to mind.

"And you're going along with this?"

"I was hoping he wouldn't go this far," Zangan exclaimed. "I was hoping he would use the super materia for good, as he told you. To build and cure, not to tear down and destroy. I was hoping he was a better man than that!"

"Bur you said he's already released WEAPON," she replied. "He's already chosen the path to destruction. I think it's obvious he's not going to change his mind at this point. Why don't you stop him now?"

Zangan looked at her and shook his head.

"I cannot."

Tifa looked at him in exaspiration.

"Why not?" she cried. "Is this some sort of philisophical honor thing again? You told me when I went to fight Shinra that our tactics were dishonorable, and you were right, but by the same token, we got the job done. Somewhere along the line you've got to say enough is enough and do what you have to do, in spite of how you may feel about it. What dishonor could there be in trying to stop a madman bent on world domination?"

Zangan looked at her, and the trace of a smile appeared on his lips.

"Very nice speech," he said. "But I'm afraid it is nothing as complicated as all that. Quays is my son."

* * *

Renanda and Cloud lay at the top of a ridge looking out over the fortress. She turned to another man beside her.

"Is everyone ready?" she asked.

"Yes," the man replied.

"The demolition charges in place?"

The man nodded.

"Very good, give the order."

The man crawled back down the slope until he was sure he couldn't be seen from the fortress, then got up and hurried off. Renada and Cloud worked their way back down the slope as well. The others were waiting with their Chocobos behind the ridge. They remounted.

"We attack as soon as we hear the demolition charges go off," Renanda said. "Get in as quickly as possible. We have surprise on our side, but we know they have a well trained force. If we give them time to get organized the fight will be twice as difficult. If we move fast enough, we may be able to overwhelm them before they have a chance to do that. Remember, everyone on the planet is depending on us, we must not fail."

There was a loud retort from over the ridge.

"That's the signal," Renanda cried. "Let's go!"

The Chocobos surged forward. Red, who was near the back of the group, leaped ahead but then stopped suddenly. He lifted his head, sniffing the air.

There was a scent in the air. That compelling scent he hadn't detected since that day on the mountain, and in fact had nearly forgotten about. But now he smelled it, stronger than ever.

He looked around, trying to follow the scent with his eyes. They fell on a rocky crag in the distance. His eyes detected movement. There was something there.

His eyes widened, and he stared in shock.

"It can't be," he found himself saying aloud.

There on the crag a beast was staring back at him with the same red eyes as his own.

Barret suddenly halted his Chocobe beside him.

"Let's go Red," he shouted. "The battle has begun."

Red glanced at him.

"Look, over there.." he started to say, but when he looked back the ridge was deserted.

"We ain't got time for no sightseein," Barret exclaimed. "Get a move on!"

With that he spurred his Chocobo forward, then turned to look at Red again.

Red glanced one more time over at the ridge. The urge to run over there as fast as his legs would take him was almost overpowering. With an almost superhuman effort he turned away and followed Barret as he rode toward the fortress.

In front of them Renada and the others were charging ahead. The fortress was right before them now, and Cloud could see that the doors on this side had been blasted open. A few of Zangans men had come out to see what was happening, but they were too few to put up much resistance. Those who did not run back into the fortess were swiftly overwhelmed.

They reached the entrance and climbed quickly down off their mounts. Cloud and his friends pulled out the weapons Renanda had supplied and followed her into the fortress. Already Cloud could hear the sounds of battle within.

He turned to Aeris.

"I've got to find Tifa," he said.

Aeris looked at him and nodded.

"I understand," she said.

Reno came up and took Aeris by the arm.

"You go on," he said to Cloud. "We'll take care of the super materia."

Cloud nodded. He turned to the others.

"Barret, Red, Cait, you're with me. Rude and Yuffie, you go with Reno. Everyone, be careful."

He turned to look at Aeris. She smiled.

"You too," she said.

Reno quickly led them away. Cloud turned and, with the others behind him, started down the hall.

* * *

The Slipstream slowly rose vertically off the rocky outcrop. Cid ran his hands deftly, almost lovingly, over the controls. The craft turned and began to pick up speed.

"Hang on," he said to the others. "I'm starting the afterburners."

Elena felt herself pushed back in her chair as the Slipstream suddenly surged forward. Within moments the ground below them was flashing past with surprising speed. This thing could really move!

Nevertheless Cid did not seem satisfied. He kept fiddling with the instruments and cursing complaints about how he couldn't get more speed out of her.

"Relax, Cid," Vincent said from beside him. "We're doing everything we can."

Cid looked at him but did not reply. Vincent could understand Cid's mood. It wasn't his hometown that was about to be destroyed.

Vincent looked at the gauges in front of him.

"We've got a radar contact," he said. "Looks like two aircraft coming up from the southeast."

Even as he spoke the radio crackled to life.

"Captain Highwind. This is Captain Tanaka of the Fort Condor airforce, requesting permission to join your formation."

What God damn formation, Cid thought. I'm one freaking plane.

"Request granted," he replied. "Glad to have you aboard."

Within minutes the two other aircraft appeared and pulled up on either side of the Slipstream. Vincent could see that they were identical to Cid's own plane.

"Looks like those guys at Fort Condor have been busy," Cid observed.

"Good," Vincent replied. "I've a feeling we can use all the help we can get."

"We're coming up on Rocket Town," Elena said.

"Hot damn," Cid responded. "Let's kick some WEAPON butt!"

* * *

"Your son?" Tifa said.

Zangan nodded.

"It was a long time ago. Before I met you. During the war in fact. Wutai had established some refugee camps for those who had been displaced during the war. I was helping bring in supplies and food for the refugees. I met a woman. We had a brief affair. It was young, and it was nothing serious, at least not to me. I was called away and when I returned the refugee camp had been destroyed. I searched but could find no trace of her, or clue to where she had gone. I thought I would never see her again."

He turned away from her and stared at the wall.

"Then, two weeks before Meteor came I met her again in Midgar. That was when she told me about Quays."

He looked at her again.

"He was the only child I had ever had," he continued. "I wanted to do everything for him, to make up for all the time we had missed together. But then Meteor struck, and his mother was killed."

"I'm sorry," was all Tifa could say.

"It was my fault," Zangan said. "I was on my way home when the destruction began, and I stopped to help some people who were trapped beneath a building that had collapsed. When I finally got back to her, her home had also collapsed. She was barely alive when I reached her. She died in my arms. If I had only gotten there sooner..."

"Surely you can't blame yourself for that?" Tifa said softly.

Zangan looked up at her.

"Why not?" he replied. "I stopped to help some strangers while she was dying. I placed their welfare above that of the woman who had given me a child."

"But you didn't know!" Tifa said. "You were just doing what you thought was right, what _was_ right."

Zangan snorted.

"All my life I have been doing what was right, and where has it gotten me?"

"Zangan," Tifa said, but he held up his hand.

"Before she died she made me promise to take care of Quays. He's the only thing I have left of her now."

Tifa was silent for a long time. At least now she understood. She took some comfort from the fact that Zangan had reasons for what he did, though not much. In spite of the fact that Quays was Zangans son, what he was doing was still wrong and he had to be stopped.

"Zangan, I realize he's your son, but what he is doing is madness. Do you know how many people will be killed if he destroys Rocket Town? Can you actually tell me you will just stand here and let that happen?"

"I am hoping he will come to his senses before it is too late," Zangan replied.

Tifa just looked at him.

"Zangan, wake up! You're letting the fact that he is your son blind you to the truth. It's too late, he's not going to stop now."

Zangan looked at her but said nothing.

"Well, somebody's got to stop him, and if you don't, then I will"

She turned and ran out of the room.

"Tifa, No!" Zangan cried.

He sprang from behind his desk and went to follow her. As he crossed the room he suddenly heard a dull explosion.

He reached the hallway just as a man rushed up to him.

"Honored one," the man shouted. "The fortress is under attack!"

* * *

Greco moved silently down the hall. He knew the enemy was nearby. He could hear movement in the room ahead, and none of Zangans people would be so incautious. He glanced around the corner and saw Reno walking toward him.

He stepped out into the hallway. Reno looked at him and stopped. They stood about fifteen feet apart.

"Prepare for your death," Greco said.

Reno looked at him and shook his head.

"What's this, the third time you've told me that?" he said. "Forgive me if I seem a little skeptical."

Greco smiled.

"Your gift of gab won't save you now. Waiting this long will just make it sweeter."

He took a step toward Reno.

"Just one thing," Reno said, holding up his hand. "If you're going to fight the Turks, you have to learn to fight by the Turks rules. And the Turks rules are..."

A shot ran out. Greco jerked backwards and then slumped to the floor.

Reno walked over and looked down at the lifeless body.

"...that there are no rules," he finished.

Rude stepped out from behind a nearby curtain, the gun still smoking in his hand.

"I thought it was, the guy with the biggest gun wins," he said.

Reno looked at him.

"No, that was last week."

Yuffie and Aeris walked up beside them.

"C'mon," Aeris said. "We've got to hurry."

* * *

As Tifa made her way through the common room she saw Quays enter from the other direction.

"Where the hell is Zangan?" she heard him call as one of his men ran by.

"Quays!" she said.

The look in her eye must have given her intentions away, for as soon as he saw her he pulled out his gun.

"No!"

Quays looked past Tifa and saw Zangan enter the room.

"Put down the gun, Quays, it's over," Zangan said. He slowly walked up to stand beside Tifa.

Quays looked at him in surprise.

"Over? How can you say it's over. I have control of the greatest weapon ever created. The world is mine for the taking and you tell me it's over?"

"Quays, please," Zangan said.

Quays face darkened.

"You have betrayed me," he said. "You told me if these 'friends' of yours found out anything you would take care of them. Yet now here they are, gathered like wolves at my gate. But there is still a chance for you to redeem yourself."

He turned to look at Tifa.

"Kill her."

Zangan looked at Quays, then turned to Tifa, but he did not move.

"Kill her or I'll do it myself," Quays said, pointing his gun at Tifa once more.

Zangan looked at Tifa again. He took a step toward her, never taking his eyes off her face.

"Defend yourself," he said.

"Zangan..." she said. How could he expect her to fight him?

Zangan struck at her. The blow hit her on her leg just below the hip. With a cry she fell to the ground.

"Finish her!" she heard Quays cry.

But Zangan made no move. Just stood there looking at her.

"At least try to defend yourself," he said. "What kind of warrior are you?"

Tifa got back up again, thinking furiously. Was this some sort of ploy he was attempting, or did he really intend to kill her? She looked in his eyes but all she saw was steely determination.

He attacked her again, but this time she was ready. She dodged out of the way, then blocked a kick as he suddenly turned toward her. She slid under an open palm stike to her face and had another kick glance harmlessly off her shoulder.

So far she had made no offensive moves of her own. She just couldn't bring herself to believe that Zangan would do this. But maybe she was just fooling herself. No matter how he felt about her, Quays was his son. Was it that hard to believe that he would turn against her for his own flesh and blood?

Tifa had been slowly retreating across the room. Zangan was increasing the speed and power of his attacks. But there was something not quite right. Looking at him she could see that he was leaving a gaping hole in his defenses, a hole that even an amateur would have noticed.

Tifa struck back, but not where Zangan was unguarded. It was so obvious, was he just trying to set her up, or did he have something else in mind?

Zangan twisted round to avoid her blow and they came face to face for a moment.

"A warrior should die in battle," he whispered.

She spun away. He came after her again. This time she stood her ground and fought back, but still she did not attack him on his unguarded side. She understood now, but she knew she could not do what he was asking.

He came at her again, attacking more strongly and recklessly than ever. Again there faces came into close contact.

"Zangan, I can't," she said.

"You must!" he growled. His hand shot out and caught her on the side of the head. She stumbled back and turned to face him again.

He struck at her now with all his strength, and she knew she could not continue fighting this way. If she didn't stop him it would just be a matter of time before one of his blows got through. He was too good for her to hold him off indefinately.

She dodged to the side and then suddenly turned and kicked at the side of his head. The blow caught him squarely, for he made no move to defend against it, or avoid it. He stumbled backward, then fell to the floor.

Tifa stepped over to him, grabbing his head with one hand, while bringing her other back for a killing blow.

Quays raised his gun one more time and sighted it on Tifa. Even as he did so he saw her arm slowly drop back down.

"I'm sorry, Zangan, I can't," she said softly.

There was a commotion in the hallway and suddenly Cloud, Barret, Red and a woman Tifa did not know burst into the room.

"Cloud!" Tifa exclaimed.

Zangan sat up and Tifa helped him get to his feet. They all turned to look at Quays.

"Your forces have been routed," Cloud said. "Give it up."

Quays looked from one to the other of them, his glance falling last on Zangan.

"Quays, he's right," Zangan said. "End this before anyone else gets hurt."

"So that's it then, father?" And he spit the last word out as if it were a curse. "You're turning against your own to cast your lot in with this scraggly band of thieves? What power does this girl hold over you?"

"She holds no power," Zangan replied. "She is just my friend."

"And you would choose this friend over you own son?"

"Over a son such as you I would gladly choose her or any of her friends. I have tried to look after you for the sake of your mother, but I see now that my feelings of guilt about her death have led me down a path that made me forsake everything I've ever believed in. The truth of the matter is that if you were twice that man you are, you wouldn't be half the person she is."

Quays looked at Zangan, and his face turned red with rage.

"You have always been nothing but a sentimental old fool!" he shouted. "My mother was the only one who ever cared for me and you let her die. Well, why don't you just let me return the favor!"

He lifted up his gun and fired at Tifa. Then he turned and bolted down the hallway.

Cloud felt his heart rise up in his throat when he saw Quays fire, but he was much too far away to do anything about it.

Zangan appeared to be too far away to as well, but somehow in the next instant he was suddenly standing in front of her. He jerked backward and then slumped to the ground.

"Zangan!" Tifa cried.

Renada took off after Quays. Cloud stopped beside Tifa for a moment to make sure she was all right, then he followed Renada.

Tifa lifted Zangan's head up off the floor.

"Zangan, oh Zangan," she said, tears filling her eyes. "Please don't die. Please..."

Zangan coughed and looked at her. The red fist on his shirt had a matching stain on the other side. He smiled.

"A warrior should die in battle," he said softly. "I would have been honored to die by your hand."

"Zangan, don't say such things," Tifa said. "You're not going to die. You told me yourself you were too tough to be killed. Don't leave me now when I've finally found you again."

"Don't mourn for me," he replied. "After the things I've done there really is nothing left for me here. I'm looking forward to finally being able to rest."

"Zangan, no," Tifa said distraughtly. She looked around. "Aeris, where's Aeris? She could help you."

Barret came up beside her, and she looked pleadingly at him, but he just shook his head.

She wrapped her arms around Zangan.

"Please don't leave me. I'll miss you."

"Be strong, Tifa," Zangan said. "You have your friends to get you through this. And your young man. That night you saw him, the girl had been hurt. He was just helping her. It was nothing more than that."

Tifa shook her head.

"I don't care about that now," she said. "I just want you to get better. Please hang on."

She looked at him, but he did not answer.

"Zangan..."

Barret came up and laid a hand on her shoulder.

She looked up at him.

"Aeris. Get Aeris," she said. "She can help him."

Barret looked at her with moist eyes of his own.

"He's gone, Teef."

The tears streamed down her cheeks. She looked up and raised her fists to the sky.

"Why have you taken away everyone I've ever loved?" she cried.

* * *

Reno stepped into the lab and looked around. It was deserted.

"Looks like all the birds have flown the coup," he said as the others came in behind him.

"When they saw we meant business they probably all took off," Yuffie said. "Looks like Zangan didn't train his men as well as he thought."

"I don't think that was it," Aeris said. "But something is definitely wrong. They never put up any kind of organized resistance."

"Whatever happened, it's made it easier for us," Reno said. "C'mon."

They walked to a door at the back of the lab and opened it. There was a smaller room inside, with a glass enclosed chamber in the middle of it. The room was filled with yellow light.

They stepped into the room. They all stopped and looked in amazement at the size of the materia in the chamber.

Yuffie took a step forward.

Reno reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Not so fast," he said to her. "This is Aeris' job."

"But..." she protested. "Look at the size of that thing. What are we going to do with it after Aeris is done?"

"Destroy it," Aeris replied. "It's unstable. Materia cannot be concentrated to that intensity for long. If left the way it is it will eventually explode."

"But can't we just use if a couple of times first?" she questioned.

Aeris ignored her and walked toward the chamber.

"Quit you're drooling and relax," Reno said. "This is one piece of materia you can't have."

Aeris stepped into the chamber. She hesitantly reached out and touched the orb. She brought her hand back, as if she had gotten a shock, but then reached out and touched it again. She put her other hand on it and closed her eyes. Slowly the yellow color faded away, and the stone began to glow a pure white.

* * *

"There it is!" Vincent said.

"I see it," Cid replied. "Shit, it's huge."

As Cid flew closer they saw the enormous hulking figure of WEAPON towering over the houses on the outskirts of Rocket Town. Already they could see some of the homes below were in flames.

"Let's see if we can get it's attention."

The three aircraft streaked down toward the creature and launched a barrage of missles. Elena felt her stomach turn inside out as Cid pulled up and flipped over so he could see the rockets strike WEAPON.

The missles hit and for a moment WEAPON was obscured from view by the blasts, but when they subsided a moment later the creature appeared unharmed. It turned toward them and suddenly the air around them was blazing with the fierce light of half a dozen lasers. Elena thought she was going to lose it for sure at the violent maneuvers Cid went through to avoid the deadly beams.

"Well, we don't seem to have hurt it much, but we sure did piss it off!" Cid exclaimed.

"Did the missles do any damage at all?" Vincent asked.

Cid did not reply for a moment as he brought the plane around for another run.

"Can't tell," he replied. "It certainly doesn't look like it."

WEAPON had turned again and was once more firing at the town.

"Damn, cut that shit out," Cid exclaimed. "Come after us."

The two other aircraft let loose with another barrage. This time Cid did not fire but followed the missles as they sped toward WEAPON.

"Cid, what are you doing?" Elean said with just a touch of panic in her voice.

"We need to take a closer look to see if we're doing any damage. I'm hoping the explosions from the missles will cover our approach."

"You're hoping?" Elena said.

Suddenly the sky lit up in front of them. For a moment they could see nothing but a fierce white light, then it faded and they saw the huge shape of WEAPON looming up right in front of them.

"Oh God!" Elena exclaimed. "We're gonna hit it!"

Cid pulled the stick over. The plane yawed until it was pitched on it's side. He dropped down till Elena thought she could count the leaves on the trees they passed, then flew the plane right between WEAPON's legs.

"I'm going to have a heart attack now," Elena announced.

Lasers flashed around them once more. Elena was pushed back in her seat as Cid brought the plane about in a screaming turn just above the treetops.

Elena felt her stomach drop down into her toes as the Slipstream suddenly rocketed skyward. Then Cid leveled off and swung around again.

"So, did you see any damage?" she managed to gasp out.

"Umm, I really didn't get a chance to take a look," Cid replied.

Elena looked at him in shock.

"Don't tell me we have to do that over again," she said through clenched teeth.

"I didn't see any damage at all," Vincent said.

"That's just great," Cid replied, shaking his head.

The radio crackled to life once again.

"Captain, Highwind, we used the last of our missles on that run. Should we continue the attack?"

Cid looked out the window. WEAPON was firing into the center of the town once more.

"Goddam!" he exclaimed. "We've got to find some way to get it away from the town. If we can't hurt it, then maybe we can distract it by annoying it. Close in and use your cannons."

There was just a moments hesitation.

"Yessir," came the reply.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that an incredibly foolish thing to do?" Vincent asked.

"You bet your ass it is," Cid replied. "Hang on."

"Oh no," Elena moaned. "Why did I ever come with you guys?"

Cid turned the Slipstream toward WEAPON once more. He fired the last of his rockets and then followed the other two planes in.

Cid swung lower and WEAPON once more rapidly filled the view ahead of them. Cid opened up with his cannon as they closed in, then he pulled up and passed so close by WEAPON's face that the could see the creatures huge red eyes staring in the window.

Cid twisted the plane in a gut wrenching turn as lasers flashed by outside once more. Nearby he saw one of the other aircraft disintergate in a ball of flame.

"We lost one," he said grimly.

Instead of pulling away he circled around WEAPON, keeping close enough to command it's attention, yet hopfully far enough away to stay out of harms way.

"What are you doing?" Elena said.

"We've got nothing left to hit it with," Cid replied. "But it we leave it alone it'll just start attacking the town again. I'm just trying to keep it occupied until..."

"Until what?" Elena asked.

Cid shrugged. He didn't really have an answer. He was kind of hoping that Cloud and Aeris would get something done at their end. At this point that seemed the only hope, but there was no way for him to tell when, or if, that was going to happen.

He turned sharply and dropped back down to treetop level, heading back toward WEAPON once again. If something was going to happen, he hoped it would happen soon. He knew if he kept acting like a fly it was just a matter of time before he got swatted.

Lasers buzzed around him as he closed in on WEAPON once more.

"I've been hit," they suddenly heard over the radio. "Losing altitute. My right wing's been damaged. Going to have to bring her down. Sorry, Captain."

"Nothing you can do," Cid replied. He looked at Vincent beside him.

"Looks like it's up to us."

There was the sound as if a cannon had gone off beside them and Cid twisted the stick as the Slipstream suddenly jerked violently to one side.

"We've been hit!" he yelled.

Elena almost screamed as the ground came rushing up to meet them, but Cid managed to lift the nose and pull up a moment before impact. Even so she could see he was fighting with the controls just to keep the plane level. Nevertheless, he brought the plane around and started to head back toward WEAPON yet again.

"Cid, what are you doing?" Elena exclaimed. "You can barely control this thing. We've got to get out of here."

"We're the only thing standing between it and Rocket Town," Cid replied sharply. "Every second we slow it down gives them more time to evacuate."

"But Cid..." Elena started, but then fell silent. She looked at Vincent. He said nothing but slowly reached back and took her hand in his.

Cid gained altitude. The controls were too unstable to fly close to the ground anymore. This made it less likely that they would crash, but it also made them an easier target for WEAPON.

He bore down on the creature again, knowing that this would probably be his last attack.

"Lady luck, don't fail me now," he muttered.

He opened up with his cannons, but he knew it was like throwing pebbles at a gorilla.

WEAPON turned toward them, and Cid braced himself to see the now familiar blast of it's laser beams.

But WEAPON continuted to turn, until it was facing north, away from the town and the Slipstream. Then it started to walk off quickly.

The Slipstream flew past it behind it's back. Cid brought them around to get another look at it. It was indeed headly rapidly away from them.

"It's leaving!" Cid cried jubilantly.

The others just stared at it. Elena could hardly believe her eyes.

"They must have done it," she said.

"They must have done something," Vincent agreed. "Let's just hope..."

He stopped and they all looked past the creature. On the horizen ahead of it they saw a blazing point of light.

"What the hell is that?" Cid said slowly.

The light grew, becoming brighter by the second. It approached them with amazing speed, growing in seconds from a point of light to a huge ball of white flame. It came on, straight as an arrow at the huge creature in front of them. When it struck it emitted a flash of light so blinding that they all had to shade their eyes and turn away.

The light faded slowly, and it was many seconds before their eyes adjusted enough to be able to see the now empty plain where WEAPON had stood.

"Holy..." Vincent said softly.

* * *

Cloud moved quickly down the hall, the sword Renada had supplied him held firmly in one hand. It was no Ultima Weapon, but it would have to do.

He could hear Renada up ahead of him, and the occasional crack of a firearm told him that Quays was not far ahead either.

He turned the corner of the corrider and saw Renada standing by an open doorway up ahead.

He came up beside her. The room in front of them was a huge storeroom, filled with crates and barrels. She motioned to him that Quays was inside.

Cloud signaled for Renada to cover him, then leaped into the room. He heard the crack of gunfire as he dove behind a large pile of crates.

Renada followed him in, firing blindly and dodging behind a second group of crates to the left of him.

"Give it up, Quays," Cloud shouted. "Zangan's dead. You're forces have been defeated. There's nothing left to fight for."

The only answer was the cracking of wood as a bullet hit the crate he hid behind.

Cloud motioned to Renada that he would swing around and try to get behind Quays. Renada nodded. She fired again and ducked back quickly as Cloud made his way toward the back of the room.

He worked his way back slowly, feeling his way ahead by instinct. He listened carefully for any clue as to Quays location as he went, but he heard nothing. Occasionally Renada would call out to Quays, hoping to get him to give away his location, but he did not answer.

Cloud came around a corner and saw Quays standing with his back to some crates. Quays saw him at almost the same instant. Cloud dodged back as Quays fired at him. He stood there with his back to the crates for a moment, sword ready. He looked up and saw that the crates backing this aisle were stacked up rather precariously.

He shoved the top crate, and the whole line of crates backing the aisle tilted and then collapsed into it.

He came around the corner, sword ready, to see Quays scrabbling away. Quays fired wildly in his direction and then disappeared down another aisle. Cloud leaped to follow but then stumbled and almost lost his footing as his foot slipped on something on the floor. He looked down to see that one of the crates had broken open and dozens of grey materia orbs were scattered across the floor. He picked his way slowly through them and headed off after Quays.

Cloud came around another aisle to find himself at the back of the room. There was no sign of Quays. He must have missed him somehow. He turned and started back toward the front.

He hadn't gotten very far when he heard Renada call out in distress.

"Cloud!"

He ran around a corner and looked toward the front of the room. Renada was on the ground, with Quays standing over her.

"Quays!" Cloud shouted.

Quays turned to look at him. Cloud stooped and picked up one of the materia orbs.

Quays smiled.

"That's not going to do you much good," he said. "I'll take care of you in a minute."

He turned and Renada found herself looking down the barrel of his gun.

The materia orb flew through the air and struck Quays in the center of his back. He cried out and stumbled forward as the bullet he fired hit the ground just inches from Renada's head.

She scrambled to the side, grabbed the gun that Quays had earlier knocked out of her hand, turned, and fired.

Quays fell to his knees. Slowly he turned and looked at her. His mouth opened as he tried to speak, but no words came out. Then he slumped to the floor and lay still.

Cloud hurried over to Reneda and helped her up.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes," she said. "Thank you."

Cloud looked at Quays and shook his head.

"C'mon," he said. "Let's get back to the others. We're finished here."

Renada nodded, then she pointed to the ground.

"Hey, look at that."

He looked down. The materia orb he had thrown lay on the floor at their feet. It glowed with a faint but distinct green light.

* * *

It was early evening when Cloud and Renada, followed by the others, rode up and dismounted outside Icicle Inn. The Slipstream sat on a rocky outcrop nearby.

The entered the Inn to see Cid, Vincent, Elena and Shera sitting by the fireplace. They got up as Cloud and his friends entered.

"Cid has asked Shera to marry him!" Elena blurted out.

They all looked at her in surprise.

"What?" Cloud said.

"That's great," Aeris spoke.

The women all gathered around Shera, talking excitedly.

Cloud walked over to Cid.

"Cid, I didn't think you had it in you."

Cid looked at him sheepishly.

"No need to make a big deal out of it," he replied. "It's just that when I heard WEAPON was headed for Rocket Town the first thing I thought of was her. Not the town, not the Tiny Bronco, not even my spaceship. I figure if she can take my mind off that, well...you know."

Cloud smiled.

"It really must be love?" he suggested. "Congratulations."

Cid shrugged.

Reno suddenly raised his voice above the others.

"Well, if this isn't a cause for celebration, I don't know what is. Let's party!"

Most of the others went into the kitchen to get drinks. Red took his customary place on the floor in front of the fire. Aeris sat down nearby as Yuffie came over.

"I can't wait to go home and tell everyone in Wutai about this," she said. "They're never going to believe that super materia. I just wish I had something to show them."

Aeris smiled.

"Give it up Yuffie. I told you already that the super materia would destroy itself it we had left it active. I'm afraid you're just going to have to be happy with your fond memories."

"Besides," she continued. "After it was deactivated all the materia whose energy it had absorbed returned to normal. There were dozens of materia orbs in storage in the fortress, and we gave them all to you. You're going to head to Wutai loaded to the gills with the stuff. What more do you want?"

Yuffie nodded.

"I guess," she said. "But even so, I'm gonna dream about that materia for a long time."

"I suppose," Aeris replied.

Yuffie went over to talk to Shera. Red turned and looked at Aeris.

"I was looking through some of Quays notes in the lab," he said. "They indicated that he had found a way to keep the super materia stable."

"That may be true," Aeris replied.

Red looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"But you told Yuffie the super materia was unstable."

Aeris shrugged.

"So I did," she said.

Red's brow furrowed.

"Explain," he said.

"Isn't it obvious. You know Yuffie. If I told her the super materia was stable, she'd do anything she could to get her greedy little hands on it, and I cannot see any good coming from that."

Red looked at her for a long time, then nodded.

"So you lied to her," he said.

Aeris looked at him innocently.

"And we're all better off for it," she replied.

Red smiled.

"So where is the materia now?" he asked.

Aeris returned the smiled and patted her backpack.

"In a safe place," she replied.

Red turned his face back to the fire.

"I have no doubt that it is," he said with a grin.

* * *

Tifa sat on the steps outside of the Inn, looking up at the stars. She could hear the others talking loudly inside, but she wasn't paying any attention.

She heard the door to the Inn open, but she did not look to see who came out.

Someone sat down beside her.

"Are you okay?" Cloud asked.

She shrugged.

"I'm sorry about Zangan," he said.

She turned to look at him.

"He was..." and her voice choked off. She bowed her head.

"Why must it always end this way? Why does life have to be so unfair? You strive and strive to do your best, to be the best person you can, and what does it get you? Am I doing something wrong, or is this all just my punishment for what we did in Midgar?"

Cloud shook his head.

"I don't know, Tifa," he said. "I don't have any answers. But I do know this. You've lost your father and Zangan, and it's a tragedy, yes, but you should also consider yourself lucky to have known two such men in the first place. At least you got to spend some time with them, and that's a precious thing. I would have given anything to have known my father, to have spent some time with him, if only for a few days. But he left when I was just a child, and I never got to know him at all."

Tifa was silent for a long time.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted," she said slowly. "You're the only family I have now. I would hate to lose you. I was such an idiot."

"No, it wasn't you..." he responded. He put his arm around her. She moved closer and rested her head on his shoulder. He looked at her, not speaking for a long time.

"Thank you," he said, barely audibly.

She looked up into his eyes.

"What for?" she asked.

"For being you. For everthing you've ever done for me. I don't think I could have made it through all this...without you."

He looked at her, her dark brown eyes, still moist with tears, like immense wells flowing deep into her soul. They were enchanting eyes. Beautiful eyes.

"Cloud," she whispered.

He felt his face drifting slowly toward hers.

"Tifa, I..."

Suddenly the door burst open and they found themselves outlined in a stark white light.

"So there you are!" Barret exclaimed. "Come on in and join the party. You're missing all the fun."

Cloud looked at Tifa, rolled his eyes and smiled. He got to his feet and helped her up beside him. Together that walked back into the Inn.

THE END

* * *

AUTHORS NOTE: _Come on Cloud, say it. Just SAY IT! Hah! You didn't think I'd make it that easy, did you? I suppose if I keep writing these I'm going to have to choose between Tifa and Aeris, and I am afraid that at that time Aeris is going to end up on the short end of it. But for all you Aeris fans out there, I promise to make it as painless as possible. And who knows? In a fit of madness I might just change my mind. Time will tell. _

_The Turks, good guys? Vincent and Elena together? Cid asking Shera to marry him? Aeris being devious? Aeris? I must be losing my mind. _

_Okay, I admit it. It was probably a bad idea to dismantle the Highwind, especially since it did nothing to further the plot of the first story. I don't even know why I did it, it just seemed reasonable at the time. And yes, I thought about calling the new aircraft the Highwind II, but I just like the name Slipstream better. _

_This tale had a pretty classic story line. The quest. The old master passing the torch to the next generation. But some plots never wear thin, and I think it's well suited to the characters. I'll try to be a little more innovative next time. _

_I'm sure you picked up on the hints of another of Red's species wandering around. Think it's a safe bet you'll be hearing more about that? I need a name for a female of Red's kind. If anyone has any suggestions, or any opinions at all about the story, or just wishes to vent, fell free to contact me at . _

_That's all for now. My, how we writer's do have a tendency to go on...all right, shut up already._

* * *

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: _Well, that does it for The Red Fist, probably my third or fourth favorite of Frank's Series. Again, I did none of this, it was all Frank, I'm just the middleman._


End file.
